Text 43
taṁ tvānurūpam abhajaṁ jagatām adhīśam
ātmānam atra ca paratra ca kāma-pūram
syān me tavāṅghrir araṇaṁ sṛtibhir bhramantyā
yo vai bhajantam upayāty anṛtāpavargaḥ
tam — Him; tvā — Yourself; anurūpam — suitable; abhajam — I have chosen; jagatām — of all the worlds; adhīśam — the ultimate master; ātmānam — the Supreme Soul; atra — in this life; ca — and; paratra — in the next life; ca — also; kāma — of desires; pūram — the fulfiller; syāt — may they be; me — for me; tava — Your; aṅghriḥ — feet; araṇam — shelter; sṛtibhiḥ — by the various movements (from one species of life to another); bhramantyāḥ — who has been wandering; yaḥ — which (feet); vai — indeed; bhajantam — their worshiper; upayāti — approach; anṛta — from untruth; apavargaḥ — freedom.
Because You are suitable for me, I have chosen You, the master and Supreme Soul of all the worlds, who fulfill our desires in this life and the next. May Your feet, which give freedom from illusion by approaching their worshiper, give shelter to me, who have been wandering from one material situation to another.
An alternate reading for the word sṛtibhiḥ is śrutibhiḥ, in which case the idea Rukmiṇī expresses is this: “I have been bewildered by hearing from various religious scriptures about numerous rituals and ceremonies with their promises of fruitive results.” Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī gives this explanation, while Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī and Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī give an additional idea Rukmiṇī might express with the word śrutibhiḥ: “My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, I was bewildered by hearing about Your various incarnations. I heard that when You descended as Rāma You abandoned Your wife, Sītā, and that in this life You abandoned the gopīs. Thus I was bewildered.”
It is understood that Śrīmatī Rukmiṇī-devī is the eternally liberated consort of Lord Kṛṣṇa, but in these verses she humbly plays the part of a mortal woman taking shelter of the Supreme Lord.