Text 25
durbhagāyā na me dhātā
nānukūlo maheśvaraḥ
devī vā vimukhī gaurī
rudrāṇī girijā satī
durbhagāyāḥ — who is unfortunate; na — not; me — with me; dhātā — the creator (Lord Brahmā); na — not; anukūlaḥ — favorably disposed; mahā-īśvaraḥ — the great Lord Śiva; devī — the goddess (his consort); vā — or; vimukhī — turned against; gaurī — Gaurī; rudrāṇī — the wife of Rudra; giri-jā — the adopted daughter of the Himālayan mountain range; satī — Satī, who, in her previous life as the daughter of Dakṣa, chose to give up her body.
I am extremely unfortunate, for the creator is not favorably disposed toward me, nor is the great Lord Śiva. Or perhaps Śiva’s wife, Devī, who is known as Gaurī, Rudrāṇī, Girijā and Satī, has turned against me.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains that Rukmiṇī might have thought, “Even if Kṛṣṇa wanted to come, He might have been stopped on the path by the creator, Brahmā, who is not favorably inclined toward me. But why should he be unfavorable? Perhaps it is Maheśvara, Lord Śiva, whom on some occasion I did not properly worship and who thus became angry with me. But he is Maheśvara, the great controller, so why would he be angry with such an insignificant and foolish girl as me?
“Perhaps it is Śiva’s wife, Gaurīdevī, who is displeased, though I worship her every day. Alas, alas, how have I offended her so that she has turned against me? But after all, she is Rudrāṇī, the wife of Rudra, and her very name means ‘one who makes everyone cry.’ So perhaps she and Śiva want me to cry. But seeing that I am so miserable, about to give up my life, why don’t they soften their attitude? The reason must be that Goddess Devī is Girijā, an adopted daughter, so why should she be soft-hearted? In her incarnation as Satī she gave up her body, so perhaps she now wants me to give up my body also.”
Thus the ācārya, with realized poetic sensitivity, interprets the various names used in this verse.