Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.61.22
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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svayaṁvare
—
in her svayaṁvara ceremony
svayam (self) + vara (choosing). A kṣatriya rite in which the bride personally chooses her husband from assembled suitors. The Bhāgavata uses it as a recurring narrative device — Sītā, Draupadī, Rukmiṇī (interrupted), Lakṣmaṇā, Rukmavatī — and always Bhagavān is the actual chooser.
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anaṅgaḥ
—
Cupid
an + aṅga, 'without body.' Cupid burned by Śiva's third eye; here Pradyumna is sākṣāt anaṅgaḥ — Cupid manifest in body. Gauḍīyas distinguish this divine Cupid (Pradyumna, Madana-mohana) from the mundane lust-deity.
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aṅga-yataḥ
—
incarnate
aṅga + yata, 'whose body has come together.' Names the re-embodiment: Cupid lost his body at Śiva's stare, regained it as Kṛṣṇa's son. The verse compresses an entire restoration-līlā into a compound.
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eka-rathaḥ
—
having only one chariot
eka (one) + ratha (chariot). The same epithet applied to Kṛṣṇa at Rukmiṇī's elopement. Bhāgavata-style verbal echo: the Lord's family-līlās rhyme.
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jahāra
—
He took her away
From √hṛ, the same root as Hari ('the One who takes away'). The Lord-name Hari literally describes what He does to His devotees — and what His son does to his bride.
This verse describes how Rukmi held a svayamvara assemby for his daughter' marriage in order to escape the infamy at giving his daughter to his enemy’s son.
When it was certain that she chose Pradyumna, a svayaṁ-vara was arranged in order to fool the intolerant competitors. The cause of choosing him was that he was elsewhere absorbed in the mood of Cupid and here was endowed with his full form (aṅga-yutaḥ). Though she chose him at the svayam-vara, he had to defeat kings who had gathered to fight with him out of envy. This showed his military prowess. After the marriage, to please Rukmī, his material uncle, he stayed a long time in Rukmī’s city. Or returning to Dvārakā he again returned to Rukmī’s city later, since Aniruddha was born in his city, mentioned already in verse 18.
He was surrounded by the assembled kings who gathered to fight with him out of enmity, because they were foolish, though Pradyumna was chosen by her at the svayamvara. But he defeated them in battle. This shows his valor. After the marriage, to please his uncle he stayed a long time in his city. Or going to Dvārakā he again came to that city and Aniruddha was born there.
- Where in my life am I being called to act with fearless conviction for something I love?
- Have I let convention override the clear inner voice of what I truly choose?
Like an arrow that needs no quiver — alone on a single chariot — Pradyumna, Cupid embodied, draws the bow that wins his bride against a forest of kings, the son demonstrating in miniature what his father did at Rukmiṇī's svayaṁvara.
SB 10.53 — Rukmiṇī sent a brāhmaṇa letter to Kṛṣṇa naming the temple and hour she would visit before her forced marriage to Śiśupāla. Kṛṣṇa arrived alone on a single chariot, lifted her in, and outran the entire assembly of kings led by her brother Rukmī.
A generation later, Pradyumna repeats the exact pattern — eka-rathaḥ, on a single chariot, against assembled kings — and wins Rukmī's own daughter. The Bhāgavata is composing in fugue: the son's līlā quotes the father's, note for note.
My note
Source: vedabase.io