Devanagari
एवं प्रेमकलाबद्धा वदन्ति स्म
पुरौकस: । कन्या चान्त:पुरात् प्रागाद् भटैर्गुप्ताम्बिकालयम् ॥ ३९ ॥
Verse text
evaṁ prema-kalā-baddhā
vadanti sma puraukasaḥ
kanyā cāntaḥ-purāt prāgād
bhaṭair guptāmbikālayam
Synonyms
evam
—
thus
;
prema
—
of pure love
;
kalā
—
by the increase
;
baddhāḥ
—
bound
;
vadanti sma
—
they spoke
;
pura
—
okasaḥ — the residents of the city
;
kanyā
—
the bride
;
ca
—
and
;
antaḥ
—
purāt — from the inner palace
;
prāgāt
—
went out
;
bhaṭaiḥ
—
by guards
;
guptā
—
protected
;
ambikā
—
ālayam — to the temple of Goddess Ambikā .
Translation
Bound by their swelling love, the city’s residents spoke in this way. Then the bride, protected by guards, left the inner palace to visit the temple of Ambikā.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Bound by their swelling love, the city's residents spoke in this way. Then the bride, protected by guards, left the inner palace to visit the temple of Ambikā.
KB 10.53.39
It appears that Rukmiṇī was a very popular princess, and all the citizens, out of intense love for her, prayed for her best fortune. In the meantime, Rukmiṇī, being very nicely dressed and protected by bodyguards, came out of the palace to visit the temple of Ambikā, Goddess Durgā.
Deity worship in the temple has been in existence since the beginning of Vedic culture. There is a class of men described in the Bhagavad-gītā as veda-vāda-rata: they believe only in the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies but not in temple worship. Such foolish people may here take note that although this marriage of Kṛṣṇa and Rukmiṇī took place more than five thousand years ago, there were arrangements for temple worship. In the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says, yānti deva-vratā devān: [Bg. 9.25] “The worshipers of the demigods attain the abodes of the demigods.” There were many people who worshiped the demigods and many who directly worshiped the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The system of demigod worship was directed mainly to Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Lord Gaṇeśa, the sun-god and Goddess Durgā. Lord Śiva and Goddess Durgā were worshiped even by the royal families; other, minor demigods were worshiped by silly, lower-class people. As far as the brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas are concerned, they simply worship Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the Bhagavad-gītā the worship of demigods is condemned but not forbidden; there it is clearly stated that less intelligent men worship the demigods for material benefit. On the other hand, even though Rukmiṇī was the goddess of fortune, she went to the temple of Goddess Durgā because the family deity was worshiped there. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that as Rukmiṇī proceeded toward the temple of Goddess Durgā, within her heart she always thought of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore when Rukmiṇī went to the temple it was not with the intention of an ordinary person, who goes to beg for material benefits; her only goal was Kṛṣṇa.
Purport
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī quotes the
Medinī
dictionary’s definition of the word
kalā
as follows:
kalā mūle pravṛddhau syāc chilādāv aṁśa-mātrake.
“The word
kalā
means ‘a root,’ ‘increase,’ ‘a stone’ or ‘a mere part.’”
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Under the influence of increased (kala) prema concerning Rukmini they spoke.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The residents spoke among themselves continually in this manner. They were not afraid of Rukmī because they were bound by effects of prema. Kalā means “producing.” Or they were bound by a particle (kalā) of prema which was pleasing to them. That prema was suitable for friendly emotions to the Lord and was exalted. They were bound up tightly by that particle of love. What then to speak of Rukmiṇī and other women? The word ca indicates that Rukmiṇī was aware of what the people spoke. Just as they had prema for her, she experienced prema for them. She also took their speech as an auspicious sign and therefore in joy entered (pra agāt) the Durgā temple.