valiant princes who were anxious to win the princess's hand entered the lists without any discrimination, a general invitation was issued by the father, who, as a rule, also regulated peculiar battles between the various parties. in a chivalric spirit. The fighting often went to the death. Finally, the prince who had surpassed all the others was offered, as a reward, the hand of the princess, for whom so many men had agreed to lose their lives.
Rukmini, the first queen of Sri Krishna, was the daughter of the king of Vidarbha, who wished to see her great beauty and all her admirable talents offered to Sri Krishna. The older brother of the princess, on the contrary, wanted her hand to be granted to King Sisupala, a cousin of Krishna. A fight ensued that, as usual, Krishna emerged victorious, after having, with his unequaled power, defeated not only Sisupala, but all the other princes assembled for the occasion. Rukmini gave him ten sons, including Pradyumna.
Krishna got the hands of other queens in the same way. Girls of kings, and all of great beauty, they were first captured by Bhaumasura, who kept them captive to satisfy his carnal desires. In their distress, they asked Sri Krishna for fervent and touching prayers to come and deliver them; In response, the merciful Lord fought Bhaumasura, killed him, and released his captives. And although they were now defiled, Krishna accepted them as wives. Krishna, the Almighty Lord, received the humble prayers of these young girls and made them his beloved queens. Sri Krishna was therefore the husband of 16,108 queens at Dvaraka, and each gave him ten sons, all of whom grew up and each had ten sons, so that the family eventually had some 10 million members.
Krishna lived in happiness in Dvaraka, showing all his excellences. His varied entertainment has already revealed the excellence of his power and he will now be shown how his stay in Dvaraka manifested the excellence of its richness and beauty. In the material world, which is only a distorted reflection of the spiritual world, wealth and beauty are considered the supreme assets. That is why when Krishna, the Supreme Person, remained on earth, the excellence of his wealth and beauty suffered no comparison in the three worlds. Krishna lived in the company of 16 108 wives, all very beautiful, and the fact that he was in Dvaraka the only husband of these thousands of women with fine charm takes on a deep meaning. Admittedly, it is not unusual in the history of the world for a powerful king to have several hundred queens, but although a king could marry so many women, he could not taste their company at the same time. But Krishna, Him, enjoyed simultaneously the company of each of his 16 108 wives.
It may be argued that yogis also have the power to multiply in many forms, but the power of the yogis and Sri Krishna are not comparable. Krishna is sometimes called Yogesvara, the Master of all Yogis. It can be read in the Vedic writings that Saubhari Muni, a yogi, multiplied into eight distinct forms. But this multiplication was similar to that of an image reproduced by television and can thus appear on millions of screens.