Devanagari
राजभ्यो बिभ्यत: सुभ्रु समुद्रं शरणं गतान् ।
बलवद्भि: कृतद्वेषान् प्रायस्त्यक्तनृपासनान् ॥ १२ ॥
Verse text
rājabhyo bibhyataḥ su-bhru
samudraṁ śaraṇaṁ gatān
balavadbhiḥ kṛta-dveṣān
prāyas tyakta-nṛpāsanān
Synonyms
rājabhyaḥ
—
of the kings
;
bibhyataḥ
—
afraid
;
su
—
bhru — O lovely-browed one
;
samudram
—
to the ocean
;
śaraṇam
—
for shelter
;
gatān
—
gone
;
bala
—
vadbhiḥ — toward those who are powerful
;
kṛta
—
dveṣān — having showed enmity
;
prāyaḥ
—
for the most part
;
tyakta
—
having abandoned
;
nṛpa
—
of a king
;
āsanān
—
the seat .
Translation
Terrified of these kings, O lovely-browed one, We took shelter in the ocean. We have become enemies of powerful men, and We practically abandoned Our royal throne.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Terrified of these kings, O lovely-browed one, We took shelter in the ocean. We have become enemies of powerful men, and We practically abandoned Our royal throne.
KB 10.60.12
“First of all, you may know that I was so much afraid of Jarāsandha that I could not dare live on the land, and thus I have constructed this house within the water of the sea. It is not My business to disclose this secret to others, but you must know that I am not very heroic; I am a coward and am afraid of My enemies. Still I am not safe, because all the great kings of the land are inimical to Me. I have personally created this inimical feeling by fighting with them in many ways. Another fault is that although I am on the throne of Dvārakā, I have no immediate claim. Although I got a kingdom by killing My maternal uncle, Kaṁsa, the kingdom was to go to My grandfather; so actually I have no possession of a kingdom.
Purport
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments on this verse as follows: “The Lord’s mentality here can be understood as follows: ‘When I gave Rukmiṇī a single flower from the heavenly
pārijāta
tree, Satyabhāmā showed such a torrent of fury that I could not pacify her even by bowing down at her feet. Only when I gave her a whole
pārijāta
tree was she satisfied. Rukmiṇī, however, did not display any anger even when she saw Me give Satyabhāmā the whole tree. So how can I enjoy the nectar of angry words from this wife, who never feels jealousy, who is supremely sober and who always speaks pleasingly?’ Thus considering, the Supreme Lord decided, ‘If I speak like this to her, I will be able to provoke her anger.’ This is how some authorities explain Kṛṣṇa’s speech to Rukmiṇī.”
According to the
ācārya,
here the words
balavadbhiḥ kṛta-dveṣān prāyaḥ
indicate that Lord Kṛṣṇa opposed almost all the contemporary kings during His incarnation, befriending only a few, such as the Pāṇḍavas and loyal members of His dynasty. Of course, as stated in the beginning of the Tenth Canto, Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared specifically because the earth was overburdened by innumerable bogus kings and He wanted to remove this burden.
Finally Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out that the word
tyakta-nṛpāsanān,
“giving up the king’s throne,” indicates that after Lord Kṛṣṇa killed Kaṁsa He humbly gave the royal throne to His grandfather Ugrasena, although the Lord Himself was entitled to it.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
By seeing the Lord’s statements later on, one can understand his thinking at this moment. "When I gave Rukmini one parijata flower, Satyambhama became full of anger and pride, so much so that I was unable to pacify her even by falling at her feet. Only when I brought a whole tree and gave it to her was she satisfied. However, though Rukmini saw me give her a whole tree, she showed no anger. How will I be able to taste the sweetness of her anger, when anger is not possible in her, being always sober and speaking sweet words? By these words I will make her angry." According to some this was the thinking in Krsna’s mind. Others explain it that Krsna spoke as he did with a desire to see how his beloved would act if he pulled out the root of the tree of prema.
"You think that you are very intelligent. Though you are endowed with all good qualities, you are ignorant of your own welfare. Therefore you are not intelligent. Why do I say this? Just listen. (He then speaks eleven verses.) O princess, you are the daughter of a king and I am a penniless son of Vasudeva. Why did you accept me (nah plural) as your husband? You cannot say that you accepted me because there was no alternative, for many kings wanted you as their wife. Nor can you say that those kings were inferior in wealth, beauty and qualities to me, for they were endowed with wealth, power, beauty and courage like the lokapalas. They were not devoid of wealth and enjoyment like Rantideva and others. You cannot say that they were far away. They came to your place to request you (praptan). Nor can you say that your relatives were opposed, for your brother and father wanted to give you them. And you also failed to notice my cowardly nature, a great fault in one born as a ksatriya. I fled from the kings out of fear and now live in the ocean. You cannot say that though I showed fear, I have proper conduct, for I made enemies with many strong forces, having only a few friends like Arjuna. Being a Yadava, it was not proper for me to be a king just by killing Kamsa, rather than by being born as a Yadava, and therefore I gave the throne to Ugrasena."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
He explains why he is not their equal. I have created difficulties for myself because of my incompetence. I have become enemies with many power men because I stole you. And they are kings but I am not. I have almost given up the throne. I temporarily accepted to be the king and Ugrasena and others accepted because I used force. O Rukmiṇī with beautiful brows! Hearing his words she frowned. By saying this he intended to scold her as well as praise her. He uses this technique later also.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
I am not suitable as your husband since I have faults like fear. Out of fear of kings I have taken shelter of the ocean. “Why be afraid of the kings?” I have made enemies of powerful kings. “But you are also strong.” I have given up the throne because I have no kingdom and no army. Or I am without the accoutrements of a king. Or a princess should marry a prince. I am not suitable since I have given up the throne. This is general, since sometimes I accept the accoutrements of a king. The word general should be applied to whole statement. O beautiful woman (subhru)! You have beauty. Why consider this marriage at all?