Kṛṣṇa, the Ranchor
353
My dear Lord, in my previous life I may have done public welfare work like digging wells and growing trees, or pious activities such as performing ritualistic ceremonies and sacrifices and serving the superior spiritual master, the  brāhmaṇas  and Vaiṣṇavas. By these activities, perhaps I have pleased the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa. If this is so, then I wish that You, Lord Kṛṣṇa, the brother of Lord Balarāma, would please come here and catch hold of my hand so that I may not be touched by Śiśupāla and his company.”
Rukmiṇī’s marriage with Śiśupāla was already settled; therefore she suggested that Kṛṣṇa kidnap her so that this might be changed. This sort of marriage, in which the girl is kidnapped by force, is known as  rāksasa  and is practiced among the  kṣatriyas , or the administrative, martial spirited type of men. Because her marriage was already arranged to take place the next day, Rukmiṇī suggested that Kṛṣṇa come there incognito to kidnap her and then fight with Śiśupāla and his allies like the King of Magadha. Knowing that no one could conquer Kṛṣṇa and that He would certainly emerge victorious, she addressed Him as Ajita—the unconquerable. Rukmiṇī told Kṛṣṇa not to be concerned that many of her family members, including other women, might be wounded or even killed if the fighting took place within the palace. As the king of a country thinks of diplomatic ways to achieve his object, similarly Rukmiṇī, being the daughter of a king, was diplomatic in suggesting how this unnecessary and undesirable killing could be avoided.
She explained that it was the custom of her family to visit the temple of the goddess Durgā, their family deity, before a marriage. (The  kṣatriya  kings were mostly staunch Vaiṣṇavas, worshiping Lord Viṣṇu in either the Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa or Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa form; still, for their material welfare, they used to worship the goddess Durgā. They never made the mistake, however, of accepting the demigods as the Supreme Lord on the level of  Viṣṇu-tattva , as did some of the less intelligent men.) In order to avoid the unnecessary killing of her relatives, Rukmiṇī suggested that it would be easiest for Him to kidnap her while she was either going from the palace to the temple or else while she was returning home.
She also explained to Kṛṣṇa why she was so anxious to be married to Him, even though her marriage was to take place with Śiśupāla, who was also qualified, being the son of a great king. Rukmiṇī said that she did not think anyone was greater than Kṛṣṇa, not even Lord Śiva, who is known as Mahādeva, the greatest of all demigods. Lord Śiva also seeks the pleasure of Lord Kṛṣṇa in order to be delivered from his entanglement in the quality of ignorance within the material world. In spite of the fact that Lord