Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.54.32
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
satī
—
saintly (lady)
From √as — 'the one who truly is.' Satī names not chastity narrowly but ontological truth-of-being. Rukmiṇī is satī because she is Lakṣmī-svarūpā; her plea has metaphysical weight.
-
karuṇam
—
pathetically / with pathos
From karuṇā. Karuṇa-rasa is one of the eight primary rasas of Bharata's Nāṭya-śāstra. Vyāsa labels Rukmiṇī's speech with the rasa-name — alerting the reader that what follows is to be received as drama-quality emotion.
-
bhrātṛ-vadha
—
the killing of her brother
Bhrātṛ (brother) + vadha (slaying). A specific category of sin in the dharma-śāstras (bhrātṛ-hatyā). Rukmiṇī is asking Kṛṣṇa not to incur even the appearance of this. Kṛṣṇa's mercy here is also His protection of Rukmī from a more famous death.
-
patitvā
—
falling
Gerund of √pat. The classic śaraṇa-gesture — falling at the feet. Cf. BG 18.66 (sarva-dharmān parityajya) where the surrenderer falls; cf. CC Ādi 17 where Caitanya falls at Advaita's feet. The body's geometry is the prayer.
-
vihvalā
—
agitated / overcome
Vi (intensely) + hvala (shaking). Same word as v. 4 ('bhaya-vihvala-locanā'). The frame is closing: Rukmiṇī begins the chapter vihvalā for the army; she ends vihvalā for her brother. The same trembling, deepened.
"What will people think if they know that my brother was killed before my eyes?" She was filled with fear because of this, not out of affection for her brother. The prema of the city women is dependent on public opinion (samanjasa prema, proper love), whereas the prema of the gopis is not dependent at all on the opinion of the public (samartha prema ), and is much stronger. However, one should not worry that the general definition of prema, that it is exclusive possessiveness of Visnu, and no one else, does not apply to Rukmini and others women, since they did not have genuine affection for Rukmi and other demons. This will be explained in detail later.
Somehow by fate Rukmī had become her brother. Seeing Kṛṣṇa about to kill him, she became unsteady with fear out of compassion or because people would blame her. “It is proper to kill such an evil person.” But she was very learned (satī). She considered, “This low fellow cannot do anything to the Lord. The miserable person acts out of ignorance, like a sick person. Therefore it is proper that Kṛṣṇa show mercy to him, since he is related to me, and I have surrendered to him.” Kṛṣṇa thought as follows. “He cannot do anything to me. That is true. But how can I tolerate his desire to cause her difficulties? Though I can save his life on her request, I will always have the desire to crush this person with evil intentions.”
Seeing Kṛṣṇa about to kill him, she became unsteady with because people would blame her. She fell at the feet of Kṛṣṇa because he was her husband. She spoke pitifully to invoke his mercy or out of fear. Someone may argue, “It is proper to kill such an evil person.” But she was full of good qualities like natural compassion (satī). She has affection because he was her brother.
Like a wife falling between her husband and her brother in the moment the sword is raised — Rukmiṇī becomes the literal mediatrix. The same posture the gopīs will take throughout Canto 10 when they ask Kṛṣṇa for some softening: bent body, choking throat, hands at His feet.
My note
Source: vedabase.io