Skandapurana 15.3

The seers said:
“Ah, the majesty of Kṛṣṇa of boundless splendor, the deity kind to brahmins,
since he in no way rendered false the seer's word!

Therefore Janārdana, the protector of order, bore no anger;
he who bore the kick of Bhṛgu’s foot upon his chest as an adornment.

Yet how did that goddess, separated from her beloved,
remain there alone? Tell [us], O lord of the Asuras.

We are exceedingly eager to hear with joy about Dvāravatī;
we wish to learn this first, for dispelling distress of mind.”

Prahlāda said:
“Listen, all seers, as I speak in detail
of how the beloved of Hari relinquished the sorrow born of the curse.

Then, having incurred the agonising curse of Durvāsas,
the mistress of the lord of the Yādavas immediately lamented:

Rukmiṇī said:
‘Ah, this worldly saying is rightly understood as auspicious:
in a small well as in the ocean, water does not exceed its measure.

I, who, being of great fortune, attained the protector, the lord of the universe,
have become this solitary one through slighting a god, just like [Sītā] from the descendant of Pulastya.

Where is Hari, the abode of auspiciousness, glorious, endowed with flawless virtues,
and where am I, a woman of little merit, exceedingly distressed, and most fickle?

Even so, the Creator, skilled in deceit,
arranged for unblest me the decree whose pain is the poison of separation.

Otherwise, how could the teachers of the classes, bathed in the path of the three Vedas,
ever be fit to curse me, who was weary herself and innocent?

Did [the Creator] indeed fashion this heart of mine out of adamantine thunderbolt, so very hard,
since it does not shatter into a hundred pieces in the unbearable separation from the enemy of Madhu?

Having undertaken severe austerity, a son was first obtained by me;
yet, deprived of that son, I did not die within five days in this world.

Having experienced even this very severe affliction, I shall be preserved then,
because this sin, which surely shakes me, has reached a hundred-thousand-fold increase.

Having thus lamented exceedingly, being afflicted, she grieved violently like an osprey;
her mind reeling with separation, struck by the twice-born's curse, she fainted at once.

Then, cursed by Durvāsas, Rukmiṇī, the beloved of Kṛṣṇa,
fell into a swoon right there, and the Ocean of Waters arrived.

With a breeze from the lotus-filaments holding drops of nectar,
he fanned this goddess Rukmiṇī, the beloved of Kṛṣṇa.

In the meantime, Nārada, holding a vīṇā in his hand,
came through the celestial path, singing the praises of the Lord.

Seeing the mother of the universe being comforted by the Ocean,
Nārada, having descended, having heard the account, awakened her.

Nārada said:
Do not grieve, O goddess, queen of gods, O divine one, over your lord and husband / being separated from you by the curse of a brahmin; take courage, O auspicious one!

For you are the Goddess incarnate, and Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Person, / descended by his own free will to remove the earth's burden.

For this god is the supreme Brahman, whose mind is ever unperturbed; / and you are the power of illusion belonging to him, the maker of creation, preservation, and dissolution.

Even when, having drawn everything back in, that self-ruling lord sleeps by his portion, / even then the almighty lord of the universe is never separated from you.

The god of gods, the lord of the world, is never separated from you; / in all his playful incarnations, you are his companion.

O sinless one, he undergoes neither union nor separation from you; / the Lord merely feigns this for the benefit of living beings.

One who desires prosperity should always honor the gods on earth; / these ascetics who know the truth must never be angered.

Thus instructing the world, Hari, directly manifest though disguised as a human, / accepts separation from you because of a sage's curse.

Do you not remember, O auspicious one, when he was born himself into Raghu's clan, / seeking to show grace to the world and eager to remove the earth's burden?

Do you not recognize that Hari, the lord of the worlds, O Rukmiṇī, / who is dearer to you than life itself? This god is indeed that very one!

By him this whole universe is pervaded inside and out, O lady of good vows; / how could there be attachment or detachment for that all-pervading, unattached Lord? Such is my thought.

I fully understand that he was directed by you in this way. / Therefore abandon this excessive mental anguish and remember your true self. / Be gracious, O Mother; compose yourself with courage through your own wisdom!

When the celestial seer had spoken thus to the end, the lord of rivers / addressed words to her in a gentle and charming voice:

The Ocean said:
What the celestial seer has said, having bowed to you, O goddess, is entirely true; / for you are sung in the Vedas as the eternal companion of Viṣṇu.

The Supreme Person himself, devoid of material form, your hidden lord, creates again and again; / he orders the universe by his own light, and bearing a form, has you as his companion.

Therefore, this grief of yours is not at all appropriate, / since you dwell eternally on the chest of the one marked with the śrīvatsa.

This divine goddess Bhāgīrathī, who has arrived at my command, / will constantly divert you, O goddess, in bodily form.

Her water shall be soft and sweet, adorned with overflowing streams; / this entire region shall bring about your happiness.

Abounding in various trees and creepers, adorned with bowers, / frequented by elephants, with bees sweetly humming,

with the graceful curves of fresh sprouts, with auspicious clusters of blossoms, / with fruits akin to nectar, and likewise with rows of flower-spikes,

endowed with the splendor of the Nandana garden, delighting mind and eye, / a most delightful forest will very soon arise here.

It is we who ought always to be enlightened by you, O Mother; / how can you, knowledge whose form is incomprehensible, be instructed by us?

Therefore give us leave; be gracious, O supreme goddess! / Homage to you, mother of the universe; again and again, homage, homage!

Prahlāda said:
Having spoken thus to the mother of the world, those two departed as they had come; / and there the goddess Bhāgīrathī herself arrived.

A forest arose there, frequented by celestial trees, / worthy to be resorted to by all people, rich in fruits and flowers.

And by her grace toward living beings, the Gaṅgā, who removes all sin, / that river flowing from the foot of Viṣṇu, adorned that region.

And the goddess, through the sage's words, the diversion of the Gaṅgā, / and the beauty of that region, attained a measure of peace.

Then, hearing of that divine river flowing from the foot of Viṣṇu, joined to the ocean, / devout people came from here and there to that milk-sweet stream.

And the inhabitants of Dvārakā, their hearts delighted by the beauty of the woods, / came continually to the forest of Rukmiṇī.

Hearing all that, Durvāsas, a portion of Śiva, / grew enraged and, smiling [bitterly], spoke this further:

Durvāsas said:
Who in the three worlds has the power to alter my word, / even the first of the gods, the grandfather of the worlds?

Does this world not know that when I am red-eyed with wrath, / the three worlds, beginning with Indra, lost their splendor?

Ignoring my curse, how can that Rukmiṇī / delight there in a grove like Nandana, frequented by people?

Therefore let all these trees bear fruits inedible to men; / let them be stripped of all beauty and devoid of flower clusters!

And this river, the crest-jewel of Hara, consumed by my curse, / its water shall become undrinkable, and it ought not to remain here at all!

Prahlāda said:
Then everything happened there just as the sage had said; / for the power in the speech of brahmins was fashioned by Viṣṇu himself.

Seeing what had occurred, the goddess was deeply sorrowful; / she considered fate to be insurmountable as it struck again and again.

Thereupon, having resolved upon death as the remedy for sorrow, / she tied her upper garment [to a branch] outside,

Then, realizing all that, the dweller in the secret cave of all beings, / knowing her [intent], came swiftly on Suparṇa, that ocean of compassion.

The Lord beheld the goddess in such a state, making a noose around her neck / beneath the branch of a tree, her eyes closed,

her ornaments cast aside, her vine-like body emaciated, the luster of her lotus face faded, intent on death; / the compassionate one regarded that virtuous lady, giver of happiness and destroyer of distress in those bowed to her, as compassion itself incarnate.

Hearing the cry of the lord of birds, she opened her lotus eyes and beheld Kṛṣṇa; / turning her lotus eyes toward him, she recognized that beloved friend and lord of her life who had arrived.

Helpless with horripilation, overcome with shame, turbid with anger and affection, lamenting aloud, / and with the burden of her grief doubled and redoubled, the goddess became an object of manifold emotions before his eyes.

As she sought to cast off [her life] in terror, he removed the noose with his lotus-like hand, / and taking her hand, reviving her with words resembling nectar, spoke this noble utterance:

The venerable Kṛṣṇa said: / 'What is this rash act that you wish to do without reflection, O timid one? / Indeed, tell me, O goddess: what is the cause of your sorrow?

You are knowledge, I am supreme consciousness; you are Māyā and I am Īśvara; / you are the intellect, and I am the individual soul: how could there be separation between us two?

Deluded in soul by you, Brahmā, Śiva, and the others wander about. / As such, why do you become agitated? Do you not recognize your own nature?

Bound by you, indeed, those seers wander here through their actions. / How could a seer be able to curse you, O fair-complexioned one?

Yet this conduct of mine here is for instructing the worlds, O goddess: / possessed by my Māyā, a person acts helplessly. / Behold that lord of sages, who was tranquil, [now] filled with anger!'

Prahlāda said: / Then Durvāsas, the best of sages, approached, bowed in devotion; / reflecting upon everything in his mind, he resorted to repentance.

Saying, 'What have I done?', he came near him. / Falling and rolling on the ground like a stick, he was bathed in tears.

Like a wretched man, he begged forgiveness from the two deities, the parents of the universe; / filled with devotion, he praised them with secret hymnic words.

And he said this to the lord of the universe: 'If you have grace toward me, / then, O god, let union with the goddess be ordained just as before.'

Then Govinda, smiling, said to that best of sages: / 'Indeed, your word must never become false.

How can the boundary ordained by me be broken, O twice-born one? / A boundary maintained by the virtuous is established as the protector of the world.

Day after day, twice a day, I will come, O best of sages; / and with affection I will delight her, that daughter of a sage.

I am not so pleased by other spiritual practices or by narrating stories of me, / as my pleasure shall be when I am worshipped here.

And when I ascend to Vaikuṇṭha, O great sage, / then all my splendor will enter into Trivikrama.

And this Rukmiṇī will once again attain union with my form. / And this Bhāgīrathī too, equal to the ocean in virtues, / abandoning all sorrows, will go to happiness.'

Having thus bestowed grace, Keśava, accompanied by the seer, / entered his own city, having established the sage nearby.

The goddess too, having then understood his deed, / became free of distress through the grace of the Lord.

And because the goddess, beloved of Hari, was liberated from sorrow there, / therefore that Bhāgīrathī is called the releaser of sorrow.

He who bathes at its auspicious confluence on the new moon or on the full moon day / is freed from all sorrow.

Beheld on the eighth, the fourteenth, and the ninth [tithis], / goddess Rukmiṇī grants all desires to mortals.

Thus has the release of the goddess from sorrow been told to you, O seers, / as well as the grace of the god. What more do you wish to hear?

Thus ends the third chapter, named 'The Description of the Release of Rukmiṇī from Sorrow,' in the Dvārakāmāhātmya, in the fourth [part of] the seventh Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses.