Rukmini's Love Letter to Krishna and Translation

The message of Rugmani to Sri kirshna on the eve of her proposed marriage to
Sisupaala
Srimad Bagavatham Dasamskandam fity second chapter slokas 37 to 43

Copyright and Couortesy of Translation : K V Ananthanarayanan

śrutvā guṇān bhuvanasundara śṛṇvatāṁ te
nirviśya karṇavivarairharato'ṅgatāpaṁ
rūpaṁ dṛśaṁ dṛśimatāṁ akhilārthalābhaṁ
tvayyacyutāviśati cittamapatrapam

kā tvā mukunda mahatī kulaśīlarūpa
vidyāvayodraviṇadāmabhirātmatulyaṁ
dhīrā patiṁ kulavatī na vṛṇīta kanyā
kāle nṛsiṁha naralokamano'bhirāmaṁ

tanme bhavān khalu vṛtaḥ patiraṅga jāyā-
mātmārpitaśca bhavato'tra vibho vidhehi
mā vīrabhāgamabhimarśatu caidya ārat-
gomāyuvad mṛgapaterbalimaṁbujākṣa

pūrteṣṭadattaniyamavratadevavipra-
gurvarccanādibhiralaṁ bhagavān pareśaḥ
ārādhito yadi gadāgraja etya pāṇiṁ
gṛhṇṇātu me na damaghoṣasutādayoannye

śvobhāvini tvamajitodvahane vidarbhān
guptaḥ sametya pṛtanapatibhiḥ parītaḥ
nirmmathya caidyamagadhendrabalaṁ prasahya
māṁ rākṣasena vidhinodvaha vīryaśulkāṁ

antaḥpurāntaracarīmanihatya bandhuṁ
stvāmudvahe kathamiti pravadāmyupāyaṁ
pūrvedyurasti mahatī kuladeviyātrā
yasyāṁ bahirnnavāvadhūrggirijāmupeyāt


yasyāṅghripaṅkajarajasnapanaṁ mahānto
vāñcantyumāpatirivvatmatamopahatyai
yarhyambujākṣa na labheya bhavatprādaṁ
jahyāmasūn vrata ṛśān satajanmabh syāt||


Translation:-

Krishna, you are the most attractive person in the whole universe, and having listened to your glories  which enter ones through the ears and destroys all woes of the body and mind, and  Oh Achyutha, my shameless mind dwells incapable of being wrenched away upon your beautiful  form which is the ultimate thing for anyone to set his eyes upon and bestows on all eternal fortune.

Oh Mukunda, which girl , who has some strength of mind, who is born of high family , and in at least some way comparable to you in upbringing, character beauty, education ,age, wealth and status would not simply woo you by mind, you who looks like a lion in human form (you were once Narasaimha) and who are simply enchanting to the minds of all the living beings in this world.

Therefore, you  please accept  me who has by my own will accepted you as my husband in mind and has simply placed my body and soul at your lotus feet, as you are the granter of all boons.  Now I belong to you.  Don’t permit the king of chedi  the Sisupala to take possession of me.  It will be like a wily jackal stealing away the royal food earmarked for the consumption of the Lion.

If it a fact that you the Lord of the Universe have been worshiped by me with full devotion through good deeds like digging of ponds and lakes, offering to fire, through gifts to deserving people, through pilgrimages,  through offerings to Brahmins on auspicious occasions, through worship of Brahmins, gods and preceptors, then you must immediately reach here and accept me through accepting my hands. My hands should not be dirtied by  an evil fellow like sisupala.

You Krishna the unconquerable  you please come over to vidharabha tomorrow itself without noticed by anyone. You must annihilate or defeat the Sisupala and his retinue with your own valour and marry me through the rakshasa  method  as a prized for your valour.

,If you are wondering how you can enter the palace at vidarbha and accept me without causing damage to the live of my  relatives, I shall inform you the right way.  On the eve of the marriage day there is a big procession to the durga temple . Accompanying that procession the  bride will be going to the  Parvati temple for worship.

My Krishna, gods like the husband of Uma are eagerly awaiting to bathe themselves in dust of your feet so that their own weaknesses will be remove.  If it is my fate that  I am not fortunate to get the protection from such great Krishna,  I will kill myself through severely austerities in this life and will be born in hundreds of lives till I attain your company.

Ideal Worshipers and Not Idol Worshipers

This is a simple story to prove Hinduism is not about idol worshipers but ideal worshipers.

Once there lived a rich textile merchant called Manikam in the city of Coimbatore, TN. He was undergoing some financial crises which started to affect his personal life and his health. To overcome the stress he went to a sage for some advice who had a small ashram in the outskirts of the city. Manikam begged the swami to tell him a ritual by which he could make his mind and his life more calm and stable. At first, the swami asked him to do some meditation and yoga to relax his mind and body respectively. Manikam wasn't satisfied with this answer and wanted the swami to tell some other ritual to appease the Gods. The swami told him to pray to his ishta devata (favorite form of God)  for peace at least twice a day. But manikam wanted some other ancient ritual that will get him money and good health at a faster rate. He needed no introspection or meditation. So swami was forced to give him an old idol of shiva and asked him to say mrityunjaya mantra 1000 times daily for a month. Manikam agreed and took the idol home.

Manikam spent most of his time praying hoping he will find some hidden treasure somewhere. He ignored his work and family and as a result both suffered. After a month he got dejected and went to the swami again and complained that Shiva wasn't a God at all. He was being relentless to his prayers. Swami smiled and gave him an idol of durga and told his to read durga suktam 2000 times a day for a month. Manikam went home, shifted the shiva idol on top of the puja shelf and started reading durga suktam. He went dejected to swami again and was in tears. He told swami that Gods are implacable. He wanted to pray to a God who was kind to his devotees. Swami gave his Balaji's idol and told him he was the God of Kali Yuga and he will for sure relent if manikam read the vishnu sahasranamam twice every day. Manikam thought his life couldn't get better. Only twice compared to 2000 times to appease a God? This one is easy.

He went home and started to pray to Lord Balaji twice a day. He spent more time sorting out his business. He prayed in the evenings together with his family. His life was getting better.

One day during his early morning prayer, he noticed that the fumes of his incense stick was reaching all the way to the old Shiva idol that was now covered with dust. He got furious. He shouted, "why should you enjoy the sweet smell of the sandalwood incense when you did nothing at all to get my life better?". He got up and stuffed the nostrills of the Shiva Idol with some cotton. With a flash of light Lord Shiva appeared before him. Manikam was shocked. He prostrated to the Lord and asked, "Oh Lord, Why didn't you appear in front of me when I religiously prayed to you? Why do you show me your kindness when I treated you so badly?" Lord Shiva smiled and explained, "Manikam all the while you prayed to me, you had money in your mind and not me. You thought I was like a maths formula. You solve it  1000 times and I appear. No Manikam, I reside in you. All this while you treated me like a carved stone capable of understanding mindlessly recited slokas. Manikam, I understand love and faith that comes from within. Even if you acknowledge me with a simple prayer but with full of love and faith I will answer your prayers. Today by stuffing the nortrills of the idol you gave me an identity. You showed me that you believed that I existed. You were just an annoyed devotee and I had to come to allay you. It doesn't matter whether you pray to Vishnu,Shiva or any other God form. When you pray and believe in the Goodness in this universe you are free to give this energy any form you want. All you need to do is to be honest,devoted and faithful. Don't run from your problems. You are here to solve it and we will give you the energy and confidence to overcome it. You prayed with your family, you gave time to your work which is your karma bhoomi and today you explicitly showed that you believed that I existed in that idol. Hence, here I am in front of you".

Manikam was in tears. He prostrated to his Lord and asked hime," Lord, always be with me and show me the right way. Be my ideal in the form of Shiva." Lord Shiva blessed him.

Manikam had realized the all pervading truth and nothing could give him more joy and peace. He worked without greediness. He was kind to his servants and loving to his family. He prayed with belief and sincerity. As a result he was liked by everyone and his business flourished. He got twice of how much he gave.

Bhakt Hanumanji

Sri Rama proclaimed in front of his court that out of the million good virtues and qualities Hanumanji is known for, his most obvious and unparalleled quality is bhakti/devotion to Lord Rama. Hence, he became the embodiment of devotion itself.

The story goes like this:-

One day while Hanumanji was doing seva/service to Mata Sita, he noticed that she was applying a red colored powder on the area where her hair partitions. When asked what it was and why was she applying it, she replied it was sindoor/vermilion. She told Hanumanji that by applying sindoor, her lord Sri Rama would be very happy and he would live longer. However, Sitaji forgot to tell him that this tradition was practiced only by a wife for her husband.

Hanumanji knowing this information waited no longer to make his lord happy and live longer. He smeared sindoor with some ghee all around his body and went to the court. Without even bothering why people were laughing at him, he went straight to Sri Rama. When asked by his Lord, he answered he had done this to make Sri Rama happy and live longer according to the advice of Mata Sita. He said, " Mata Sita is a Goddess, so a little bit of sindoor was enough for her to make you happy. However, I am just a servant and hence, I needed a lot of sindoor to see a smile on your face."

Sri Rama was moved by his innocent child like behavior and sincere devotion. He proclaimed that who ever dressed Hanumanji's idol with sindoor every Saturday (Lord Vishnu's Day) would get all their desires fulfilled.