SB 10.61.33 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

तदाब्रवीन्नभोवाणी बलेनैव जितो ग्लह: । धर्मतो वचनेनैव रुक्‍मी वदति वै मृषा ॥ ३३ ॥

Verse text

tadābravīn nabho-vāṇī balenaiva jito glahaḥ dharmato vacanenaiva rukmī vadati vai mṛṣā

Synonyms

tadā — then ; abravīt — spoke ; nabhaḥ — in the sky ; vāṇī — a voice ; balena — by Lord Balarāma ; eva — indeed ; jitaḥ — won ; glahaḥ — the wager ; dharmataḥ — fairly ; vacanena — with words ; eva — certainly ; rukmī — Rukmī ; vadati — speaks ; vai — indeed ; mṛṣā — duplicitous .

Translation

Just then a voice from the sky declared, “Balarāma has fairly won this wager. Rukmī is surely lying.”

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Just then a voice from the sky declared, "Balarāma has fairly won this wager. Rukmī is surely lying." KB 10.61.33 During the dispute there was a voice from the sky, and it announced that for all honest purposes Balarāma was the actual winner of this game, that He was being abused, and that the statement of Rukmī that he had won was absolutely false.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Since the sinful kings would act as witnesses and tell a lie, a voice spoke from the sky in order to increase Balarāma’s fury so that he would kill sinful Rukmī. Balarāma has won the wager according to the rules (dharmataḥ) because he made a statement (vacanena) that he would accept the bet. Rukmī speaks falsely. Viṣṇu Purāṇa describes Rukmī’s words: tvayokto 'yaṁ glahaḥ satyaṁ na mayaiṣo ‘numoditaḥ / evaṁ tvayā ced vijitaṁ vijitaṁ na mayā katham // I do not accept it as true that you have won the wager. If you won, how is it that I did not win? In Viṣṇu Purāṇa, the voice in the sky spoke as follows: vijitaṁ baladevena rukmiṇā bhāṣitaṁ mṛṣā / anuktvāpi vacaḥ kiñcit kṛtam bhavati karmaṇā // The wager has been won by Balarāma. Rukmī speaks falsely. Even if words are not spoken, what is done is accomplished by the action.