Text 23
aho tri-yāmāntarita
udvāho me ’lpa-rādhasaḥ
nāgacchaty aravindākṣo
nāhaṁ vedmy atra kāraṇam
so ’pi nāvartate ’dyāpi
mat-sandeśa-haro dvijaḥ
aho — alas; tri-yāma — three yāmas (nine hours), i.e., the night; antaritaḥ — having ended; udvāhaḥ — the marriage; me — of me; alpa — insufficient; rādhasaḥ — whose good fortune; na āgacchati — does not come; aravinda-akṣaḥ — lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa; na — do not; aham — I; vedmi — know; atra — for this; kāraṇam — the reason; saḥ — he; api — also; na āvartate — does not return; adya api — even now; mat — my; sandeśa — of the message; haraḥ — the carrier; dvijaḥ — the brāhmaṇa.
[Princess Rukmiṇī thought:] Alas, my wedding is to take place when the night ends! How unlucky I am! Lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa does not come. I don’t know why. And even the brāhmaṇa messenger has not yet returned.
It is apparent from this verse, as confirmed by Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, that the present scene takes place before sunrise.