FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.61.36

रुक्‍मिणैवमधिक्षिप्तो राजभिश्चोपहासित: । क्रुद्ध: परिघमुद्यम्य जघ्ने तं नृम्णसंसदि ॥ ३६ ॥
rukmiṇaivam adhikṣipto
[rukminaivam adhikshipto]
rājabhiś copahāsitaḥ
[raajabhish chopahaasitah]
kruddhaḥ parigham udyamya
[kruddhah parigham udyamya]
jaghne taṁ nṛmṇa-saṁsadi
[jaghne tam nrimna-samsadi]
rukmiṇā — by Rukmī evam — in this manner adhikṣiptaḥ — insulted rājabhiḥ — by the kings ca — and upahāsitaḥ — laughed at kruddhaḥ — angered parigham — His club udyamya — raising jaghne — He struck dead tam — him nṛmṇa - saṁsadi — in the auspicious assembly .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
rukmiṇaivam adhikṣipto
rukmiṇā
by Rukmī
evam
in this manner
adhikṣiptaḥ
insulted
rājabhiś copahāsitaḥ
rājabhiḥ
by the kings
ca
and
upahāsitaḥ
laughed at
kruddhaḥ parigham udyamya
kruddhaḥ
angered
parigham
His club
udyamya
raising
jaghne taṁ nṛmṇa-saṁsadi
jaghne
He struck dead
tam
him
nṛmṇa - saṁsadi
in the auspicious assembly .
  • adhikṣiptaḥ — insulted
    adhi + √kṣip, 'to throw at.' A specific kind of insult — words 'thrown at' someone, more violent than mere avamāna. Names what passes the threshold of Balarāma's tolerance.
  • kruddhaḥ — angered
    From √krudh. Distinguished from manyu (verse 31): manyu is sustained, krodha is the flash. Balarāma's manyu (slow swell) ripens into krodha (the strike). The Bhāgavata's emotion-vocabulary is exact.
  • parigham — His club
    Sanskrit for an iron-bound club, a heavy bludgeon. Distinct from Balarāma's signature musala and hala. The Bhāgavata varies the weapon-name in verse 38 too — pariga(ha) suggests an improvised wedding-hall weapon, perhaps a door-bar.
  • jaghne — He struck dead
    From √han. The same root as in Hanumān ('struck-jaw') and ahiṁsā. Bhāgavata uses jaghne for fatal blows by Bhagavān and His expansions only — never for ordinary killings.
  • nṛmṇa-saṁsadi — in the auspicious assembly
    nṛmṇa (auspicious, joyful) + saṁsad (assembly). The verse's bitter irony: the killing happens in the very assembly called 'auspicious.' Bhāgavata's narrative knife — the word for joy holds the corpse.
Thus insulted by Rukmī and ridiculed by the kings, Lord Balarāma was provoked to anger. In the midst of the auspicious wedding assembly, He raised His club and struck Rukmī dead.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Thus insulted by Rukmī and ridiculed by the kings, Lord Balarāma was provoked to anger. In the midst of the auspicious wedding assembly, He raised His club and struck Rukmī dead.
Commentary

At the auspicous gathering (nrmna samsadi) Balarama raised his club and struck Rukmi.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Being mocked by the kings and Rukmī, so that even Kṛṣṇa was included in their derision, Balarāma killed him in the auspicious (nṛmṇa) assembly.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

He was mocked in this way, including Kṛṣṇa as well (evam) by the kings, instigated by Rukmī. Balarāma killed him in the auspicious (nṛmṇa) assembly.

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)
Related verses
Concepts
Jiva
Provoked beyond limit, Balarāma raised His club and struck Rukmī dead in the midst of the wedding hall. The Lord's tolerance is vast, but offenses heaped on devotees can finally call forth His justice.
Reflection Questions
  • How often do I take divine patience as permission to keep offending?
  • Where is my own tolerance being mistaken for endless indulgence?

Like a club falling at last on the rim that has cracked under many small blows, the parigha rises and falls in the wedding-hall — and the same auspicious assembly that gathered to bless a marriage becomes the scene where Saṅkarṣaṇa, who draws together, draws Rukmī's life away.

Balarāma kills Dhenuka and Pralamba

Balarāma's anger has form-precedent. In SB 10.15 He killed the ass-demon Dhenuka with a single throw against a tāla tree; in SB 10.18 He killed Pralambāsura with one blow of His fist in the cowherd-game. Each time, the same pattern: tolerance, tolerance, then one decisive blow.

Rukmī's death follows the same arc. Balarāma absorbed three rounds of cheating and a public sneer; the parigha falls only when the line is crossed — and the Bhāgavata makes clear it falls as dharma, not rage. The chapter's later silence of Kṛṣṇa (verse 39) is the necessary counter-rhythm: where Balarāma acts on Yadu-dharma, Kṛṣṇa preserves the Yadu-sneha.

📝 My note

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