Then the demons, who were inimical to the Lord began to see Rukmini, the sakti of the Lord, full of knowledge and bliss, as Maya. This is described in two and a half verse. Verses 51 and 52, describing Rukmini are connected to verse 53, which describes the warriors who saw her as devimaya. The word iva means "certainly" in this phrase. Thus they saw her certainly as devimaya. The wrestlers saw Krsna as a thunderbolt, not as a tender, young boy. Thinking of him as such, was not thinking of his svarupa, all the different spectators viewed the svarupa of Krsna in their own way at the wrestling arena. In the same way the demons thought of Rukmini as some very bewildering maya of the devatas, and not some human woman. Then that devamaya is described in detail. She was syama, a woman who is warm during the cold seasons, and cool during the hot season, with hard breasts. The warriors became overcome with lust on seeing Rukmini with such qualities ,wiht prominent breasts, and eyes moving about as if afraid of her locks of hair. She had teeth like jasmine buds reflecting the redness of her bimba like lips. She moved her feet which were lit by her jingling, well crafted ankle bells. From perceiving her in this way as maya, they became afflicted with lust, just as Pururava was afflicted with lust on seeing a fiery image of Urvasi produced by the gandharvas. Just as Pururva becamse lusty, not by the fiery image, but the thought that it was Urvasi, so the warriors became lusty, not by seeing Rukmini, but by perceiving her as maya. In this way other meanings of these verse are refuted. Not only did they faint, but they fell to the ground on seeing Rukmini, who had offered her beauty to Krsna and no one else. As Rukmini was walking, because she wanted to see Krsna, she looked at the other men present bashfully, as they were other men. She would not show such bashfulness on seeing him. She then saw Acyuta, who never leaves (cyuta) the heart.

At the proper time Rukmiṇī displayed her powers in order to defeat the opposing kings. As described in in verse 54, she did not offer her beauty to anyone accept Kṛṣṇa. Therefore she possessed the māyā of Kṛṣṇa (deva-mayīm). This was the māyā of Kṛṣṇa who shines (deva) with his variegated svarūpa for the devotees but appears like a thunderbolt to the wrestlers in the arena. (SB 10.43.17) Another version has vīra-mohinīm. She was bewildering to the opposing kings, breaking their determination. Seeing her, as she bewildered them by assuming another form, they fainted. That form which bewildered them is described as having fine hips etc. By her taking that form of mohinī they were bewildered. Though famous for courage and intelligence (yaśasvinaḥ), they became tormented with love because of her bewildering form. The kings became useless. Seeing that bewildering form, they fell to the ground. She had offered her real, extraordinary beauty to the Lord. It was not visible to the demons. With her fingers she pushed aside her locks of hair. She was looking for her Lord with shy side-glances. She did not look directly. She saw the fallen kings and then saw Kṛṣṇa. What did she do? She moved her lotus bud feet slowing with a desire to come close to him. Instead of caraṇābja-koṣau there is another version calat-padma-koṣau accepted by Śrīdhara Svāmī. Caraṇa is missing in that metaphor. This is an example of the first type atiśayokti (identity in difference). siddhatve'dhyavasāyasyātiśayoktir nigadyate || bhede’py abhedaḥ sambandhe’sambandhas tad-viparyayau | paurvāparyātmakaṁ kārya-hetvoḥ sā pañcadhā mataḥ || When the object is completely identified with the object of comparison it is called atiśayokti. There are five types, identity in difference, non-relation in relationship, the opposites of these, and reversal of cause and effect. Sāhitya-darpaṇa 71-72 Acyutam ca is accepted by Śrīdhara Svāmī though acyutam sā is generally accepted. Sā seems to be correct to match the grammatical construction of the verses. She saw Kṛṣṇa who did not waver from his promise (acyutam). There was no need to investigate further. She was in the process of getting on the chariot. She did not get on immediately but started doing various activities to prepare to mount the chariot. She did not mount immediately because she did not want to show disrespect to the sacred procession. The rivals looked on with direct vision. They had recovered from their bewilderment. The possessive case is used to show that Kṛṣṇa disrespected them.

She was like the māyā of Viṣṇu (deva) since she was most beautiful for similar to Mohinī. O vīra (warrior) or dhīra (intelligent person)! The details of her beauty are then described with ten descriptive terms. Not only her waist was attractive (sumadhyama) but all limbs were attractive. Hari-vaṁṣa describes this. Śyāmāvadātā sā hy āsīt pṛthucārvāyatekṣaṇā Tāmroṣṭha-nayanāpāṅī pīnoru-jaghanastanī Vṛhatī cārusarvāṅī tanvīśacīnibhānanā Tāmra-tuṅganahī subhrur nīlakuñcita-mūrdhajā Atyarthām rūpataḥ kāntā pīna-=śroṇipayodharā Tīkṣṇa-śuklaiḥ samair dantaiḥ prabhāsadbhir alaṅkṛtā Sananyā pramadā loke rūpeṇa yaśasā śriyā Rūpiṇī rukmiṇī devī pāṇdura- ksaumavāsinī She was pure and dark. Her eyes were long and wide. Her lips were red. She glanced with her eyes. Her thighs were firm and ankles were narrow. Her limbs were large and waist was narrow. Her face was like the moon. Her raised nails were red. Her brows and hair were black. She was beautiful because of her form. Her hips and breasts were full. She was ornamented with even, white, sharp, shining teeth. She was incomparable in this world by her beauty, fame and wealth. She wore pale yellow cloth. She wore unlimited ornaments on her hips and ears. She was at vayaḥ sandhi (śyāmām). Thus her breasts were budding (vyañjat-stanīm). Her limbs, beauty, age and ornaments are described in summary. Then her sweetness is described in verse 51. Her glance was sweet, through her locks of hair. Her smile was sweet. This revealed her teeth slightly. Her gait was sweet. Her ankle bells sounded like a swan, as she walked like a swan. Directly seeing her, all the gathered warriors, though famous by defeating enemies, fainted in sorrow because they had no hope to attain her. They were frightened by her desire to have Kṛṣṇa (tat-kṛta-hṛcchaya). Though brave and mounted on elephants, they fell to the ground from fainting, dropping their weapons. Their hearts were destroyed by Kṛṣṇa’s shy glance and best smile, endowed with love, directed to Rukmiṇī. They fainted because of agitation, understanding that he would steal her. On the pretext of going to the temple, she offered or showed her extraordinary beauty to Kṛṣṇa alone. She actually went outside the palace so that Kṛṣṇa could take her. She did this by gently moving her feet. They were soft like lotus buds. The comparison with the lotus is to show their beautiful. She moved slowly because of their beauty and because of their softness. She waited to attain the Lord, endowed with all powers (bhagavataḥ). Or she was expecting with great desire (pra) to see him (praptim) with her eyes. She pushed aside her locks in order to see the Lord clearly. This indicates her cleverness. She saw all the kings who had come (prāptān) to help Śiśupāla. Wanting to see Kṛṣṇa, she cast a shy glance everywhere. She did not look at the kings. She sent many glances in order to see everywhere. Or she looked at the kings who were received with shame, caused by her disrespect for them. Or pushing aside her locks which blocked her glances, while glancing here and there for the arrival of the Lord, she saw the kings who had fallen here and there. Later by her glances (apāṅgaiḥ) she saw Kṛṣṇa who has standing far away in order to fool the kings. Kṛṣṇa does not fail in his determination (acyutam) and never fails to show his form and qualities at any time. She was eager to mount the chariot because she was a princess. She could not go to his house on foot. Or she could not go on foot because her feet were tender and she was unable to walk that far. Getting down from his chariot, he took her hand in his. Or he put her on his lap in the chariot, while the king looked. They had recovered from fainting. Genitive case indicates lack of respect for the kings. This act shows his boldness, his prowess and quickness. This could happen because he was Kṛṣṇa, bhagavān. Or he attracted all. He was most expert at directly taking her.