Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.60.39
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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vṛtaḥ asi
—
You have been chosen
Past participle vṛta (chosen) + asi (You are). The svayaṁvara-verb — she chose Him. Gauḍīyas read svayaṁvara as the mādhurya-form of bhakti par excellence: the devotee, of her own will, chooses the Lord.
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nyasta-daṇḍa-munibhiḥ
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by sages who have renounced the sannyāsī's staff
Compound: nyasta (laid down) + daṇḍa (staff) + muni (sage). The paramahaṁsas — those who have transcended even the sannyāsa-order. Gauḍīya tradition reads them as the highest class of bhaktas (cf. Bhāgavata 11.18.12) — the very ones who praise Bhagavān.
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kāla-vega-dhvasta-āśiṣaḥ
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whose hopes are destroyed by the impulses of time
Compound chain: kāla (time) + vega (force) + dhvasta (destroyed) + āśis (hopes). Even Brahmā and Śiva have hopes that time crushes. She names the limit of every other candidate-husband — and elevates Him as the only timeless one.
This is Queen Rukmiṇī’s refutation of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s statement in text 16. There the Lord Kṛṣṇa said, bhikṣubhiḥ ślāghitā mudhā: “I am glorified by beggars.” But Queen Rukmiṇī points out that those so-called beggars are actually sages in the paramahaṁsa stage of life — sannyāsīs who have reached the highest level of spiritual advancement and thus given up the sannyāsī rod. Lord Kṛṣṇa also made two specific accusations against His wife in text 16. He said, vaidarbhy etad avijñāya — “My dear Vaidarbhī, you were not aware of the situation” — and tvayādīrgha-samīkṣayā — “because you lack foresight.” In the present verse, Rukmiṇī’s statement iti me vṛto ’si indicates “I chose You as my husband because You possess the above-mentioned qualities. It was not a blind choice at all.” Rukmiṇī further mentions that she passed over lesser personalities like Brahmā, Śiva and the rulers of heaven because she saw that even though, materially speaking, they are great personalities, they are frustrated by the powerful waves of time, which emanate from the eyebrows of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, far from lacking foresight, Rukmiṇī chose Lord Kṛṣṇa after an exhaustive appraisal of the entire cosmic situation. Thus she lovingly rebukes her husband here. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī interprets Rukmiṇī’s mood as follows: “My dear husband, Your accusation that I lack foresight indicates that You did know of my deep insight into the situation. Actually, I chose You because I knew of Your true glories.”
In this verse she replies to Krsna’s statement "O fool, I am praised only by beggars." Explaining the meaning of the word "bhiksu" she speaks of the excellence of being praised by the bhiksu. "Those who have renounced the danda are called bhiksu. Your powers are praised (gadit anubhava) by the bhiksus or paramahamsas. You are paramatma (atma), the dear most of everyone, being the soul of everyone. Therefore praising you is not foolish. Rather if you say it is foolish, you are foolish. Knowing that you give yourself to those in the universe who worship you, I have chosen you as my husband. You said, "out of ignorance you have chosen me as your husband." This shows you did not know my intelligence in this matter. Rejecting persons such as Brahma whose benedictions are all destroyed by the force of time emanating from the movement of your eyebrow, I have chosen you. What then to speak of rejecting inferior persons like those kings? You have said I am short sighted. But you were not aware of my foresight."
She speaks this verse on remembering the battle with the kings. Your glories (anubhavaḥ) are voiced by sages, ātmārāmas, who have given up pride (nyāsta-daṇḍa) and thus beggars. She then describes those glories. You, the svarūpa of all things (ātmātmā), give yourself. As the instigator of time, you have made it continuous. Your devotees are eternal but not the rest. I reject devatās like Indra and even Brahmā (abja-bhava) and their blessings since they remain alive only for a movement of your eyebrow. She shows disrespect to Brahmā and the rest. She does not mention Śiva because he was not the object of her attention. This omission was caused by her intense emotions. Though her attraction to Kṛṣṇa was natural and spontaneous, and not dependent on logical analysis, some deliberation was necessary in spite of the spontaneity. Taking advantage of that portion of logic she came to the proper conclusion since doing so was proper for her.
Your glories are sung even by sannyāsīs who aspire for liberation (nyasta-daṇḍa), what to speak of Nārada and others who disregard liberation. What is that glory? You are the ātmā, the antaryāmī, the Lord. And you give yourself (ātma-daḥ). You are chosen by me. The choice is fixed. As the instigator of time, you are not controlled by time, or limited by time. You exist eternally in Vaikuṇṭha. The aspirations of Brahmā and others remain only for the time that you move your eyebrow. I reject Brahmā, what to speak of Indra and the other devatās. Śiva is not mentioned since he is included in the devatās.
A princess who has been offered Brahmā, Śiva, and the rulers of heaven as suitors — and has rejected all of them — finally says, 'I chose You, the One who gives away even Yourself.' This is the open declaration the whole chapter was set up to elicit. The pralambha worked; the prema speaks.
In SB 10.52.37–43, Rukmiṇī sends a brāhmaṇa messenger to Dvārakā with a confidential letter declaring: 'I have heard of Your qualities; my mind has entered into Your lotus feet; please come and rescue me from this Cedi-king marriage.'
This verse — 'I chose You, rejecting Brahmā, Śiva, the rulers of heaven' — is the public expansion of that private letter. The chapter's whole emotional architecture climaxes here: the queen explicitly performs the ananya-vṛṇana she once performed in secret.
My note
Source: vedabase.io