Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.52.40
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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pūrta-iṣṭa-datta-niyama-vrata
—
(by) pious works, sacrifices, charity, ritual observances, vows
Compound listing five sub-categories of sukṛti. The Bhāgavatam often inventories karmic-religious activities to set them in relation to bhakti — here Rukmiṇī treats them all as preliminaries whose ripening is Kṛṣṇa-bhakti.
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para-īśaḥ
—
the supreme controller
Compound: para (supreme) + īśa (controller). Even within the love-letter Rukmiṇī's doctrinal precision holds — Kṛṣṇa is the para-īśa, the supreme controller, not merely her chosen husband. Mādhurya never erases aiśvarya for her.
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gada-agrajaḥ
—
Kṛṣṇa, the elder brother of Gada
Compound: gada (Kṛṣṇa's younger half-brother) + agra-ja (elder-born). Rukmiṇī uses a familial epithet that marks Kṛṣṇa within His Yadu household — placing her future husband in his domestic register, with a hint of the bride's perspective on the joint family she is joining.
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pāṇim gṛhṇātu
—
may He take (my) hand
Phrase: pāṇi (hand) + gṛhṇātu (3rd person singular imperative of √grah). The Vedic marriage formula is pāṇi-grahaṇa — the taking of the bride's hand. Rukmiṇī's request is in precise Vedic terminology, even though the rescue will be styled rākṣasa.
The ācāryas comment as follows on this verse: “Rukmiṇī felt that no one could obtain Lord Kṛṣṇa by the efforts of a single lifetime. Therefore she earnestly pointed out the pious activities she had performed in that life and previous lives, hoping to convince Śrī Kṛṣṇa to come.”
"O most difficult to attain person! You cannot be obtained simply by the good acts of one birth. If I have performed pious acts in previous lives, whether with a desire to attain you , or without a desire to attain you, let the results come now in the form of attaining you. This is my prayer. If I have worshipped the Lord profusely by digging wells (purta), by sacrifices (ista), by offerings to the Lord (dana), by regulations (niyama) such as bathing in holy places, by observing vratas like ekadasi, by worship of devas, brahmanas and gurus, which are angas of worship of the Lord himself, then may the human Lord, elder brother of Gada, come here and accept me, a human in marriage, and not anyone else, either Narayana, or any devata or any human."
“But your desire can only be fulfilled by pious acts.” For many births in the past she has undergone acts for this purpose. In great distress she places this information in her message. The word ādibhiḥ indicates direct processes like hearing. The order is in terms of successively superior acts, ending with deity worship. Bhagavān means Nārāyaṇa. These acts should be sufficient (alam). If I have worshipped by these methods sufficiently then Kṛṣṇa should come and accept my hand. “This is difficult to accomplish. How can it be done?” You are able to do, not do or change otherwise anything (pareśa). She speaks of the Lord and Kṛṣṇa as separate entities because of identifying with his sweet human pastimes. Or the words bhagavān and gadāgrajaḥ can both refer to Kṛṣṇa. No other person—human, devatā or aṁśa of the Lord should accept me. She mentions Śiśupāla first, since this arrangement has already been made. By using a sentence with yadi (if), she indicates certainty of the marriage with Kṛṣṇa.
- What past merit do you invoke when you ask big of Kṛṣṇa?
- Where do you ask without any deposit of devotion behind the request?
Rukmiṇī totals her account of pious works — sacrifices, charity, vows, worship — and asks for one fee: Gadāgraja's hand. She is not exchanging karma for kṛṣṇa; she is asking that whatever sukṛti she has earned be redeemed in this one currency. The entire ledger is staked on a single transaction.
My note
Source: vedabase.io