Krsna Kidnaps Rukmini 397

When King Bhismaka learned that Damaghosa and his party were
arriving, he left the city to receive them. Outside the city gate there were
many gardens where the guests were welcomed to stay. In the Vedicsystem
of marriage, the bride’s father receives the large party of the bridegroom
and accomodates them in a suitable place for two or three days until the
marriage ceremony is performed. The party led by Damaghosa contained
thousands of men, among whom the prominent kings and personalities
were Jarasandha, Dantavakra, Vidtratha and Paundraka. It was an open
secret that Rukmini was meant to be married to Krsna but that her elder
brother, Rukmi, had arranged her marriage to Sigupala. There was also
some whispering going on about a rumor that Rukmini had sent a messen-
ger to Krsna; therefore the soldiers suspected that Krsna might cause a
disturbance by attempting to kidnap Rukmini. Even though they were not
without fear, they were all prepared to give Krsna a nice fight in order to
prevent the girl from being taken away. Sri Balarama received the news
that Krsna had left for Kundina accompanied only by a brahmana; He also
heard that Sigupala was there with a large number of soldiers. Suspecting
that they would attack Krsna, Balarama took strong military divisions of
chariots, infantry, horses and elephants and arrived at the precinct of
Kundina.

Meanwhile, inside the palace, Rukmini was expecting Krsna to arrive,
but when neither He nor the brahmana who took her message appeared,
she became full of anxiety and began to think how unfortunate she was.
“There is only one night between today and my marriage day, and still
neither the brahmana nor Syamasundara has returned. I cannot ascertain
any reason for this.” Having little hope, she thought perhaps Krsna had
found reason to become dissatisfied and had rejected her fair proposal. As
a result, the bradhmana might have become disappointed and not come
back. Although she was thinking of various causes for the delay, she
expected them both at every moment.

Rukmini further began to think that demigods such as Lord Brahma,
Lord Siva and the goddess Durga might have been displeased. It is generally
said that the demigods become angry when they are not properly
worshiped. For instance, when Indra found that the inhabitants of
Vrndavana were not worshiping him (Krsna having stopped the Indra-
yajiia), he became very angry and wanted to chastise them. Thus Rukmini
was thinking that since she did not worship Lord Siva or Lord Brahma
very much, they might have become angry and tried to frustrate her plan.
Similarly she thought that the goddess Durga, the wife of Lord Siva,
might have taken the side of her husband. Lord Siva is known as Rudra,
