Rukmini Sandesa

Sri Rukmini said: Hearing of Your qualities, O most beautiful one in the universe -- qualities that, entering through the ears of those who hear them, take away the pain of the body -- and knowing Your form to be the ultimate treasure for all who have eyes to see, my shameless mind, O infallible one, enters into You.

O Mukunda, what wise maiden of noble family, come of age, would not choose as her husband one equal to You in lineage, character, beauty, learning, youth, wealth and power -- O best of men, who enchant the minds of all people?

Therefore, my lord, I have chosen You as my husband and have offered myself entirely to You; make me Yours here, O almighty one. Do not let Sisupala, prince of Cedi, seize the hero's due -- like a jackal snatching the lion's prey -- O lotus-eyed Lord.

If the Supreme Lord, elder brother of Gada, has truly been satisfied by my public works, sacrifices, gifts, vows, and worship of the gods, brahmanas and guru, then let Him come and take my hand -- not the son of Damaghosa nor anyone else.

Tomorrow, O unconquerable one, is my wedding. Come to Vidarbha well-guarded, surrounded by Your army commanders; forcibly crush the combined strength of the king of Cedi and the lord of Magadha, and carry me off by the rite of heroic marriage, as the prize won by Your own valor.

Lest You wonder how to marry me without killing my kinsmen, since I live within the inner palace quarters, let me tell You the means: the day before the wedding there is a great procession to the family deity, during which the bride-to-be goes outside to worship Girija.

The great souls desire to bathe in the dust of whose lotus feet, as even Uma's husband does, to dispel the darkness within the self -- if I fail to obtain Your grace then, O lotus-eyed one, I shall give up this life worn thin by vows, that it may bear fruit after a hundred births.