Text 12
rājabhyo bibhyataḥ su-bhru
samudraṁ śaraṇaṁ gatān
balavadbhiḥ kṛta-dveṣān
prāyas tyakta-nṛpāsanān
rājabhyaḥ — of the kings; bibhyataḥ — afraid; su-bhru — O lovely-browed one; samudram — to the ocean; śaraṇam — for shelter; gatān — gone; bala-vadbhiḥ — toward those who are powerful; kṛta-dveṣān — having showed enmity; prāyaḥ — for the most part; tyakta — having abandoned; nṛpa — of a king; āsanān — the seat.
Terrified of these kings, O lovely-browed one, We took shelter in the ocean. We have become enemies of powerful men, and We practically abandoned Our royal throne.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments on this verse as follows: “The Lord’s mentality here can be understood as follows: ‘When I gave Rukmiṇī a single flower from the heavenly pārijāta tree, Satyabhāmā showed such a torrent of fury that I could not pacify her even by bowing down at her feet. Only when I gave her a whole pārijāta tree was she satisfied. Rukmiṇī, however, did not display any anger even when she saw Me give Satyabhāmā the whole tree. So how can I enjoy the nectar of angry words from this wife, who never feels jealousy, who is supremely sober and who always speaks pleasingly?’ Thus considering, the Supreme Lord decided, ‘If I speak like this to her, I will be able to provoke her anger.’ This is how some authorities explain Kṛṣṇa’s speech to Rukmiṇī.”
According to the ācārya, here the words balavadbhiḥ kṛta-dveṣān prāyaḥ indicate that Lord Kṛṣṇa opposed almost all the contemporary kings during His incarnation, befriending only a few, such as the Pāṇḍavas and loyal members of His dynasty. Of course, as stated in the beginning of the Tenth Canto, Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared specifically because the earth was overburdened by innumerable bogus kings and He wanted to remove this burden.
Finally Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out that the word tyakta-nṛpāsanān, “giving up the king’s throne,” indicates that after Lord Kṛṣṇa killed Kaṁsa He humbly gave the royal throne to His grandfather Ugrasena, although the Lord Himself was entitled to it.