Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c11.s3.39

c11.s3.39

In order to entertain the sorrowing Kṛṣṇa, Paurṇamāsī arranges the enacting of a play which Kṛṣṇa witnesses, the theme of the inset play (Garbhāṅka) justifying the naming of the Act as Rādhābhisāra; but the device of a play within a play is not very effective here. It describes an episode of Kṛṣṇa-līlā at Vṛndāvana, in which Kṛṣṇa manages to deceive Jaṭilā by assuming the disguise of Abhimanyu, her son and Rādhā’s husband, and obtains her permission to sport with Rādhā! The Act V (Candrāvalī-lābha) gives a new version of the abduction of Rukmiṇī (=Candrāvalī) at Kuṇḍina-nagara, contrived by the scheming Paurṇamāsī. Kṛṣṇa, accompanied by Garuḍa, enters the palace in the disguise of an actor, and abducts Rukmiṇī with the connivance of her father but against the opposition of her brother.