SB 10.52.42 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

अन्त:पुरान्तरचरीमनिहत्य बन्धून्- त्वामुद्वहे कथमिति प्रवदाम्युपायम् । पूर्वेद्युरस्ति महती कुलदेवयात्रा यस्यां बहिर्नववधूर्गिरिजामुपेयात् ॥ ४२ ॥

Verse text

antaḥ-purāntara-carīm anihatya bandhūn tvām udvahe katham iti pravadāmy upāyam pūrve-dyur asti mahatī kula-deva-yātrā yasyāṁ bahir nava-vadhūr girijām upeyāt

Synonyms

antaḥ — pura — the women’s quarters of the palace ; antara — within ; carīm — moving ; anihatya — without killing ; bandhūn — your relatives ; tvām — you ; udvahe — I shall carry away ; katham — how ; iti — saying such words ; pravadāmi — I shall explain ; upāyam — a means ; pūrve — dyuḥ — on the day before ; asti — there is ; mahatī — large ; kula — of the royal family ; deva — for the presiding deity ; yātrā — a ceremonial procession ; yasyām — in which ; bahiḥ — outside ; nava — new ; vadhūḥ — the bride ; girijām — goddess Girijā (Ambikā) ; upeyāt — approaches .

Translation

Since I will be staying within the inner chambers of the palace, You may wonder, “How can I carry you away without killing some of your relatives?” But I shall tell You a way: On the day before the marriage there is a grand procession to honor the royal family’s deity, and in this procession the new bride goes outside the city to visit Goddess Girijā.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Since I will be staying within the inner chambers of the palace, You may wonder, "How can I carry you away without killing some of your relatives?" But I shall tell You a way: On the day before the marriage there is a grand procession to honor the royal family's deity, and in this procession the new bride goes outside the city to visit Goddess Girijā. KB 10.52.42 Rukmiṇī told Kṛṣṇa not to be concerned that the fighting would take place within the palace and that many of her family members, including other women, might thus be wounded or even killed. As the king of a country thinks of diplomatic ways to achieve his object, 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 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 Goddess Durgā. They never made the mistake, however, of accepting the demigods as the Supreme Lord on the level of viṣṇu-tattva, as do some less intelligent men.) 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 returning home.

Purport

Clever Rukmiṇī anticipated a possible objection on the part of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. He certainly would not object to subduing rascals like Śiśupāla and Jarāsandha, but He might be reluctant to injure or kill Rukmiṇī’s relatives, some of whom might block His way to the palace’s inner sanctum, where the women were protected. The procession to or from the temple of Girijā (Durgā) would provide the perfect opportunity for Kṛṣṇa to kidnap Rukmiṇī without harming her relatives.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

"Let Sisupala’s troops get killed. However, stealing you from within the city will certainly lead to killing your relatives." "How can my desire be fulfilled without killing? There is a temple of Durga outside the city. You can easily steal me from there, without killing my relatives."

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

In great distress she further describes the events of the coming day and gives instructions. I stay within the inner chambers of the palace. There will be a procession to the temple of the family deity, tomorrow, the day before the marriage. She states that this will definitely happen. “At which moment will this happen? How would I know?” It will be very evident because there will be a huge festival (mahatī) with instrumental music. It is a custom that the new bride enters the temple of Durgā outside the city.