Shloka 29
The Departure of Lord Kṛṣṇa from Hastināpura
या वीर्यशुल्केन हृता: स्वयंवरे प्रमथ्य चैद्यप्रमुखान् हि शुष्मिण: । प्रद्युम्नसाम्बाम्बसुतादयोऽपरा याश्चाहृता भौमवधे सहस्रश: ॥ २९ ॥
yā vīrya-śulkena hṛtāḥ svayaṁvare pramathya caidya-pramukhān hi śuṣmiṇaḥ pradyumna-sāmbāmba-sutādayo ’parā yāś cāhṛtā bhauma-vadhe sahasraśaḥ
Die Söhne dieser Frauen sind Pradyumna, Sāmba, Amba und andere. Rukmiṇī, Satyabhāmā, Jāmbavatī und ihresgleichen wurden vom Bhagavān aus ihren Svayaṁvaras fortgeführt, nachdem Er viele mächtige Könige, angeführt von Śiśupāla (Caidya), bezwungen hatte. Und als Er Bhaumāsura tötete, befreite und nahm Er auch Tausende weiterer Frauen an—alle sind sie ruhmreich.
Exceptionally qualified daughters of powerful kings were allowed to make a choice of their own bridegrooms in open competition, and such ceremonies were called svayaṁvara, or selection of the bridegroom. Because the svayaṁvara was an open competition between the rival and valiant princes, such princes were invited by the father of the princess, and usually there were regular fights between the invited princely order in a sporting spirit. But it so happened that sometimes the belligerent princes were killed in such marriage-fighting, and the victorious prince was offered the trophy princess for whom so many princes died. Rukmiṇī, the principal queen of Lord Kṛṣṇa, was the daughter of the King of Vidarbha, who wished that his qualified and beautiful daughter be given away to Lord Kṛṣṇa. But her eldest brother wanted her to be given away to King Śiśupāla, who happened to be a cousin of Kṛṣṇa. So there was open competition, and as usual Lord Kṛṣṇa emerged successful, after harassing Śiśupāla and other princes by His unrivalled prowess. Rukmiṇī had ten sons, like Pradyumna. There were other queens also taken away by Lord Kṛṣṇa in a similar way. Full description of this beautiful booty of Lord Kṛṣṇa will be given in the Tenth Canto. There were 16,100 beautiful girls who were daughters of many kings and were forcibly stolen by Bhaumāsura, who kept them captive for his carnal desire. These girls prayed piteously to Lord Kṛṣṇa for their deliverance, and the merciful Lord, called by their fervent prayer, released them all by fighting and killing Bhaumāsura. All these captive princesses were then accepted by the Lord as His wives, although in the estimation of society they were all fallen girls. The all-powerful Lord Kṛṣṇa accepted the humble prayers of these girls and married them with the adoration of queens. So altogether Lord Kṛṣṇa had 16,108 queens at Dvārakā, and in each of them He begot ten children. All these children grew up, and each had as many children as the father. The aggregate of the family numbered in the millions.
FAQs
This verse recalls that, at the slaying of Bhauma (Narakasura), Krishna rescued women ‘by the thousands,’ highlighting His role as protector and restorer of dignity and dharma.
‘Caidya’ refers to Śiśupāla, king of Cedi. The verse notes that Krishna won some queens in svayaṁvaras by subduing proud rivals headed by Śiśupāla, demonstrating Krishna’s unmatched valor.
The verse teaches that true strength is used to protect the vulnerable and uphold righteousness—encouraging one to combine courage with compassion and responsibility.