Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.53.44
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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upaspṛśya
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sipping water for purification
Absolutive of upa-√spṛś (to touch lightly, perform ācamana). The standard pre-pūjā ritual. Gauḍīyas note: Rukmiṇī performs the very acts she will later perform countless times as a queen of Dvārakā in front of Kṛṣṇa's deity.
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śuciḥ śāntā
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sanctified and peaceful
Two predicate adjectives. Śuci (pure) + śāntā (peaceful). Śānta is the first of the five rasas in Rūpa's enumeration. Rukmiṇī enters Ambikā's temple in the lowest rasa-key and will exit, on Kṛṣṇa's chariot, in mādhurya — the whole ladder of rasa is climbed in one chapter.
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ambikā - antikam
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the presence of Ambikā
Compound: Ambikā + antika (near). Antika emphasizes proximity, not just location — Rukmiṇī comes near to the goddess in the sense of being granted access. Gauḍīyas treat the moment as devī's hospitality to the future Lakṣmī.
Rukmini, performing acamana (upasprsya), entered the inner sanctum (devi or deva sadanam). The masculine is sometimes used for female deities in their sanctum just as the masculine is used for female animals while they are in the egg or womb.
Six verses describe Rukmiṇī’s devotion to Durgā. She arrived at Durgā’s temple (deva-sadanam). The masculine deva is used since Śiva and others were also situated in the temple or since the masculine is used for words like “eggs” of the hen even though so many of the eggs may be female chicks. Her mind was controlled (śāntāḥ).
She reached the temple of Durgā (deva-sadanam). Another version has devyāḥ. Śāntāḥ means her mind was controlled.
- Where do you enter sacred spaces unprepared and wonder why nothing lands?
- What multi-step purification could you actually perform?
Before entering the deity's presence she washes her lotus hands with water — clean, calm, vow of silence intact. The verse is a compressed image of arcana-vidhi: ācamana, śuddhi, śāntā-bhāva, then darśana. Rukmiṇī is a model arcaka before she becomes a bride.
My note
Source: vedabase.io