The Abduction of Sri-Rukmini

Politics, Genealogy and Theology in Harivamsa 87–90

Authors

  • Christopher R Austin Dalhousie University Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/rsth.v33i1.23

Keywords:

Rukmiṇī, Kṛṣṇa, Harivaṃśa, Mahābhārata, genealogy

Abstract

This article examines the Harivamsa’s rendering of Vasudeva Krsna’s encounter with and marriage to Rukmini of Vidarbha (HV 87–90), and proposes that this episode of Krsna’s life is of special importance to the Harivamsa’s larger concern to develop in full the Mahabharata’s partial portrait of the adult Vasudeva Krsna. I argue that the Harivamsa’s basic work of unpacking Krsna’s adult identity advances on three fronts simultaneously: genealogical, political and theological, and that it is especially by recounting Krsna’s relationship with Rukmini that the poets are able to develop all at once some of the key political, genealogical and theological dimensions of Krsna’s identity revealed only partially in the Mahabharata.

References

Austin, Christopher R. 2011. “The Mystery of the Syamantaka Jewel: the Intersection of Genealogy and Biography in the Harivamsa.” Religions of South Asia 5 (1 and 2): 153–169.

———. 2013. “The Fructification of the Tale of a Tree: The Parijataharana in the Harivamsa and Its Appendices.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 133(2): 249–268. http://dx.doi.org/10.7817/jameroriesoci.133.2.0249

Brockington, Mary, ed. 2002. Stages and Transitions: Temporal and Historical Frameworks in Epic and Puranic Literature. Proceedings of the Second Dubrovnik International Conference on the Sanskrit Epics and Puranas, August 1999. Zagreb: Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Brockington, John. 2002. “Jarasamdha of Magadha (MBh 2,15–22).” In Stages and Transitions: Temporal and Historical Frameworks in Epic and Puranic Literature. Proceedings of the Second Dubrovnik International Conference on the Sanskrit Epics and Puranas, August 1999, edited by Mary Brockington, 73–88. Zagreb: Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Brodbeck, Simon. 2011. “The Ancient Indian Rajasuya Revisited.” Paper presented at the Annual Sanskrit Tradition in the Modern World Symposium, University of Manchester, May 27.

Coleman, Tracy. 2002. “Suffering Desire for Krishna: Gender and Salvation in the Bhagavata Purana.” Journal of Vaishnava Studies 10(2): 39–50.

———. 2003. “The Abduction of Rukmini.” Journal of Vaishnava Studies 12(1): 25–56.

Couture, André. 1996. “The Harivamsa: A Supplement to the Mahabharata.” Journal of Vaisnava Studies 4(3): 127–138.

———. 2003. “Dvaraka: The Making of a Sacred Place.” In Pilgrims, Patrons and Place: Localizing Sanctity in Asian Religions, edited by Phyllis Granoff and Koichi Shinohara, 224–248. Toronto: UBC Press.

———. 2006. “The emergence of a group of four characters (Vasudeva, Samkarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha) in the Harivamsa: points for consideration.” Journal of Indian Philosophy 34: 571–585. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10781-006-9009-x

Couture, André and Charlotte Schmid. 2001. “The Harivamsa, the Goddess Ekanamsa, and the Iconography of the Vrsni Triads.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 121(2): 173–192. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/606559

Gonda, Jan. 1970. Visnuism and Sivaism: A Comparison. London: Athlone Press.

Grünedahl, Reinhold. 1997a. “Zur Textkritik des Narayaniya.” In Narayaniya-Studien, edited by Peter Schreiner, 30–74. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

———. 1997b. “Zur Stellung des Narayaniya im Mahabharata.” In Narayaniya-Studien, edited by Peter Schreiner, 197–240. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

———. 1997c. “Parallelen des Narayaniya und Anmerkungen zu seiner Wirkungsgeschichte.” In Narayaniya-Studien, edited by Peter Schreiner, 296–378. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.

Gupta, Sanjukta. 1971. “The Caturvyuha and the Visakha-yupa in the Pañcaratra.” The Adyar Library Bulletin 35(3–4): 189–204.

Harman, William P. 1989. Sacred Marriage of a Hindu Goddess. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Hiltebeitel, Alf. 2006. “The Narayaniya and the Early Reading Communities of the Mahabharata.” In Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE–400 CE, edited by Patrick Olivelle, 227–256. New York: Oxford University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305326.003.0010

Ingalls, Daniel H. H. 1968. “The Harivamsa as a Mahakavya.” In Mélanges d’Indianisme à la Mémoire de Louis Renou, 381–394. Paris: Éditions de Boccard.

Jaiswal, Suvira. 1981. The Origin and Development of Vaisnavism. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal.

Kinjawadekar, Pandit Ramachandrashastri, ed. 1936. Harivanshaparvan with Bharata Bhawadeepa by Neelakantha. Poona: Shankar Narhar Joshi (Citrashala Press).

Kinsley, David. 1986. Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Malinar, Angelika. 1997. “Narayana und Krsna: Aspekte der Gotteslehre des Narayaniya im Vergleich zur Bhagavadgita.” In Narayaniya-Studien, edited by Peter Schreiner, 241–295. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

Matchett, Freda. 1996. “The Harivamsa: Supplement to the Mahabharata and Independent Text.” Journal of Vaisnava Studies 4(3): 139–150

———. 2001. Krsna: Lord or Avatara? The relationship between Krsna and Visnu. Richmond: Curzon Press.

Matsubara, Mitsunori. 1994. Pañcaratra Samhitas and Early Vaisnava Theology: With a Translation and Critical Notes from Chapters on Theology in the Ahirbudhnya Samhita. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

Miller, Barbara Stoler. 1975. “Radha: Consort of Krsna’s Vernal Passion.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 95(4): 655–671. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/601022

Oberlies, Thomas. 1997a. “Die Textgeschichte der Svetadvipa-Episode des Narayaniya (MBh 12,321–326).” In Narayaniya-Studien, edited by Peter Schreiner, 75–118. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

———. 1997b. “Die Textgeschichte des Adhyaya 326.” In Narayaniya-Studien, edited by Peter Schreiner, 119–138. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1997.

———. 1997c. “Gottesnamen, Opferkonzeptionen und Zeithorizonte in Teil A des Narayaniya.” In Narayaniya-Studien, edited by Peter Schreiner, 139–158. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

Olivelle, Patrick ed. 2006. Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE–400 CE. New York: Oxford University Press.

Pathak, M.M., ed. 1997–1999. The Critical Edition of the Visnupuranam. 2 vols. Vadodara: Oriental Institute.

Pauwels, Heidi. 2007. “Stealing a Willing Bride: Women’s Agency in the Myth of Rukmini’s Elopement.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland 17: 407–441. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1356186307007523

Schrader, F. Otto. 1916. Introduction to the Pañcaratra and the Ahirbudhnya Samhita. Madras: Adyar Library.

Schreiner, Peter, ed. 1997a. Narayaniya-Studien. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.

———. 1997b. “«Schau Gottes»—ein Leitmotiv indischer Religionsgeschichte?” In Narayaniya-Studien, edited by Peter Schreiner, 159–96. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.

Shastri, J. L., ed. 1983. Bhagavata Purana of Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasa, with the Sanskrit commentary Bhavarthabodhini of Sridharasvamin. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

Srinivasan, Doris M. 1979. “Early Vaisnava Imagery: Caturvyuha and Variant Forms.” Archives of Asian Art 32: 39–54.

Sukthankar, Vishnu Sitaram, ed. 1933-1966. The Mahabharata (Critical Edition). 19 vols. Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.

Vaidya, Parashuram Lakshman, ed. 1969–1971. The Harivamsa: Being the Khila, or Supplement to the Mahabharata. 2 vols. Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.

Van Buitenen, J.A.B., ed. and trans. 1975. The Mahabharata. vol. 2. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Published

2014-06-17

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Austin, C. R. (2014). The Abduction of Sri-Rukmini: Politics, Genealogy and Theology in Harivamsa 87–90. Religious Studies and Theology, 33(1), 23-46. https://doi.org/10.1558/rsth.v33i1.23