RUKMINI AND SHRI KRISHNA: The Abduction

Excerpted from Chapter 1 of the book ‘Krishna Yogeshvara’ by Sanjay Dixit: Available at https://www.amazon.in/Krishna-Yogeshvara-Kutil-Dharma-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B0855R56GQ/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

The swift, two-wheeled chariot screeched to a halt next to Rukmini, as she got off from the ardhamandapa of the sprawling Indrani temple. Rukmini had a thrill coursing through her veins. ‘Did my plan succeed?’ she thought with some trepidation.

A darkish young man with a peacock-feather-bedecked diadem over his long, curly hair was standing in a chariot at the back. He flung his hand out to Rukmini. She only half understood what was going on.

‘Rukmini, think again,’ she thought to herself. ‘You are going against your kuladharma. Your father and brother would come to eternal shame.’

Rukmini looked at the young man again. Krishna was smiling. ‘Yes, it is me. Do not worry about your kuladharma, Rukmini. In any cosmic cycle, there are times when one has to subordinate kuladharma for a higher calling. Come, hold my hand and climb up.’

Rukmini regained her confidence. Her retinue looked agape as she held the offered hand and climbed up into the chariot. The armed escort had noticed the manoeuvre. Even as the commander shouted instructions, Krishna turned the chariot around in a blink and was gone into the jungle behind the temple. There was a small clearing through which the chariot started flying. Daruka, the charioteer, was the most exceptional practitioner of his craft. He manoeuvred the chariot through small clearings among the trees exceptionally well and was gone many yojanas before the armed escort, who was given the task of protecting Rukmini, could figure out where exactly the abductor of the princess had gone.

Rukmini smiled at Krishna and said, ‘You cowherd, is this the way to behave with an Ārya woman? You have abducted me in broad daylight.’

Krishna patted Daruka. He brought the chariot to an abrupt halt; the two horses in the chariot neighed loudly because of the sudden stop.

A wry smile played on Krishna’s lips. ‘Okay, princess. I am sorry for the infraction. Shall I drop you here or should I take you back to the Indrani temple?’

Rukmini was disarmed. She hid her head in Krishna’s bosom and murmured, ‘I am already in my temple.’

Krishna patted Daruka again. The chariot moved at a breakneck speed. Krishna always wondered at Daruka’s ability to keep track of the direction even in the deepest of forests. They had to reach Narmada before nightfall.

Rukmini tried to recollect the events of the day. She remembered how she had paused for a moment before stepping into the mandalas of the Indrani temple. A retinue of twenty-one sakhis had accompanied her, a few in front but most of them trailing along behind her. She carried a thali for puja in her hands, complete with incense, coconut, vermilion and Gangajala. She was there to perform the customary puja to propitiate Goddess Indrani that every would-be bride of the Bhojaka clan of Kundinapura had performed for generations.

Rukmini’s thoughts had gone back to her childhood days that she had spent in her mother’s parental home. She reminisced about the deep bamboo forests, the fishing expeditions, the climbing of the snow-clad mountains to spot snow tigers, the bamboo skirts she wore and the rituals of worshipping the Sun god. Mishmika of the Idulikā country, which is located beyond Pragajyotisha, had married their priceless princess Lavangikā to Bhishmaka, the prince of Vidarbha, who had strayed into the Idulikā valley while he was on his way to the ancient land of Lohit. It was a case of love at first sight, a Kshātra Karma for Bhishmaka, and an ancient tribal right to exercise the freedom of choice of a bridegroom for Lavangikā. Rukmini’s mother had passed away when she was a child, but the mother’s features stood out on the daughter in her full youthful bloom.

Rukmini had inherited most features of her mother. She was tall as a reed, very stately, had sharp features, a long face and a long, flattish nose. Her slightly slanted eyes were very attractive. She could hold an ordinary man in a trance with a mere look. Her long limbs let her gain tremendous proficiency in swordsmanship. She could defeat any ordinary rathi in sword games. Only the atirathi and maharathi could claim superiority over her. That made her among the top three sword experts in the whole of Vidarbha. Her father, Bhishmaka, and brother, Rukmi, were the only other people superior to her.

Kavya gave Rukmini a nudge. She came out of her reverie. The leading part of her retinue had already reached the garbhagriha, while she had dawdled on the steps of the first mandala. She walked up gingerly, taking each step with a measured intent. With each step she took, her resolve became more and more firm. She sent Shvetaketu to her chosen man with the final ultimatum. ‘Come take me on this day of my swayamvara otherwise, I will jump into the lake next to the Indrani temple after performing the puja. Either I will marry you or marry death. I know that you will preach me kuladharma, but Dharma is never fulfilled unless my Shakti unites with my Shiva. So yoke your Dharma to your Shakti.’

Rukmini had only faint hopes of a response. She remembered meeting Krishna briefly, for the first time, in an upanayana ceremony of the sons of Yadava chiefs before they embarked on their final schooling to Sandipani Ashrama along with many rishis of Aryavarta. She had met him again at the first aborted attempt to marry her off to Shishupala in a staged swayamvara. Even at that time, she had refused to cooperate with the sham of a swayamvara. Kaishika, her grandfather, had brought up his granddaughter like a mother after Lavangikā had passed away when Rukmini was barely seven years old. She had told Kaishika even at that time that she was not going to be a pawn in Rukmi’s great game to succeed Jarasandha as the emperor of Aryavarta.

She had spent nearly an hour at the puja, far longer than the custom. The purohit had reminded her, at least thrice, that she was getting late. She sat in front of Goddess Indrani with her eyes open, looking straight into the eyes of the deity. A deity is a living person in a temple. Rukmini was doing the right thing. She was trying to communicate with the Supreme through the medium of the deity. Her mind was calm. She was not beseeching the deity for any material object. She remembered Krishna telling people once that — ‘to ask for material prosperity from a deity is silly. After all, the goal of life is liberation. Why would any deity grant a devotee more chains of bondage even if he asks for it? Does the uninformed choice of a devotee matter to the highest consciousness of a deity?’

She had got up very slowly, walked back to the outer steps of the ardhamandapa even more slowly and paused from time to time to check the distance of the lake from the outer steps. She was a fast runner, yet she wanted to be sure that she would be able to make the one hundred rope-knots distance in a minute. Her mind was prepared to take her life by jumping into the lake if he would not come.

Then there was Krishna…

The chariot was speeding away. Instead of taking the straight path out of Kundinapura towards Dvaraka through Surya Tirtha along the Tapasvini River, the chariot was being expertly driven through deep forests. A steep climb had begun. They were climbing the Shatapura ranges. Thick vegetation blocked their way again and again, but Krishna used his sword to slash away the obstructing branches to let Daruka have a clear path. Daruka seemed to know his way about. He had found a small path even in the midst of the thick forests of shaguna and shala trees, and was driving at a breakneck speed. Krishna held Rukmini with his arms around her to keep her steady on the perch. The seat at the back of the swift two-wheeled chariot had a place for only one person, but Krishna managed to squeeze Rukmini into it. From time to time, he would get up and clear the branches obstructing the path.

Rukmini sat there in a trance-like state. The gananayaka leading the princess’s escort became indecisive for a minute. He saw an apparition come in a flash, and the princess was gone before he could even blink his eye. There was no resistance, not even a cry for help from her. He was not even sure of the route the eloping couple had taken. They had disappeared towards the back of the temple. He knew that there was an unused trail in that direction that led to the Narmada. There was no time to think. He rushed back to the prince to take further instructions.

Rukmi was beside himself with fury. He took out his sword to strike at the neck of the gananayaka, but Bhishmaka held his arm. ‘No use, Rukmi. We must first find out who has abducted her.’

Rukmi shouted at the top of his voice, ‘Who else but that rascal of a cowherd! He has abducted my sister. I swear by the code of the Kshatriyas that I will hunt him down and kill him.’

Rukmi sat down with his head in his hand and started lamenting loudly, ‘How will I show my face to the assembled kings? What will I tell Shishupala? What is the use of this large army camping here? I have been disgraced. My plan of marrying Jarasandha’s granddaughter is also ruined. It is all your fault, father. You had allowed her to become like her tribal mother in your fondness for your dear departed wife. She was completely spoilt by the teachings of the grandfather.’ Rukmi started wailing like a lost child.

Bhishmaka comforted him. ‘Let us go to Emperor Jarasandha, Rukmi. He might be able to tell us a way out.’

Together, they reached the campsite of Jarasandha. When Jarasandha saw them, his heart skipped a beat. He did not want to hear of another trick by that cowherd who had already beaten him many times in battles, tactics and strategies. ‘I hope they are not bringing another bad news,’ thought Jarasandha.

Rukmi made no ceremony and came straight to the point. ‘Samrata Jarasandha, Rukmini has eloped with Krishna.’

Jarasandha lost his composure. He felt his head was swimming. He could not keep standing. He sat down on his seat with a thud. The seat gave way and he fell down in a heap on the floor. The situation was an exact description of the predicament he found himself in. The cowherd had beaten him to his quarry once again.

Rukmi and Bhishmaka ran to Jarasandha to help him get up. He waved them off with a peremptory gesture. He was already a sight and resented receiving any gratuitous help.

‘Don’t bother,’ growled Jarasandha, ‘I can lift myself up.’ Then, as if to show the strength of his leg muscles, he got on to his feet without using his hands for support. Jarasandha started shouting at Rukmi. ‘You dunce, is there anything you can do right? Is this the way you hope to get the hand of my granddaughter and become the mānya16 of Magadha? Go and get the head of that low-born cowherd. How dare he abduct a princess! Don’t you have Kshatriya blood? Oh, I forgot. You are a new Kshatriya. That’s why your blood did not boil and you ran to me instead of running after him. Brainless, shameless and a fameless fool!’ Jarasandha was frothing from his mouth.

Rukmi ran back to collect a band of warriors and went after the trail of Krishna. By all accounts, he was supposed to have been alone. Shishupala sent a few couriers on horseback to get help from the Chedi outposts at various points along River Narmada; Rukmi sent a few along the Tapasvini and another few towards the eastern part of his own kingdom of Vidarbha.

Within a few minutes, it was known that Krishna’s chariot had gone towards the North, up the Shatapura mountains, and was probably headed towards the Narmada. Shishupala was trying to keep a cool head. He anticipated that Krishna would head towards Dvaraka. The only possible route would be to either take a boat along the Narmada to Bhrigu Tirtha, or cross the Narmada and take a land route through Gurjara Pradesh. Either way, he would have to go through Omkareshvara. He advised a blockade at Omkareshvara. He also anticipated that Krishna would not miss an opportunity to pay his obeisance at Omkareshvara, which was a natural place of worship for new couples. Accordingly, a small battalion set out on horseback towards Omkareshvara through the shortest possible route. It was a well-maintained route on which horsemen could fly on their steeds.

Jarasandha was going insane. ‘Block all the routes. Get that milkman here. I want to kill him with my own hands. He has thwarted me a dozen times. How many can I count? Yamuna, Charmanyavati, Kaliya Duh, Gomantaka … the first swayamvara, and now this one. I should have had him killed in Vrindavana itself. That idiot Kamsa was a no-hoper. Get him here … get him … get him!’

Rukmi was nearing Krishna on his horse Chaitanya, leading a band of a hundred selected cavalrymen. The Narmada was hardly a yojana away. They had been travelling for a day and a half, and dusk was almost upon them. They planned to go to the bank of Narmada and block the route to Ujjayini and to Bhrigu Tirtha. They began their steep descent along a mountainous path that led to the river, flanked by tall hillsides.

A massive boulder blocked their path!