he Shukla paksha Dwadashi tithi in the auspicious month of Vaishakh is the holy appearance day of Srimati Rukimi devi, the eternal consort of Sri Krishna and the foremost of his 16,108 wivees in Sri Dwarka dham, where Krishna performs his eternal pastimes as Dwarkadheesh. Born as the daughter of King Bhishmaka, Rukmini was the princess of Vaidarbha and the sister of Rukmi. Having heard of the superexcellent qualities of Sri Krishna, she had given her heart to him and wanted to marry him, which, when her parents came to know about it, was supported by her parents, but Rukmi, her brother, was a wicked minded person having friends like the evil Jarasandha and Shishupal and, being envious of Krishna, he decided to give her in marriage to Shishupal against her desire. When Rukmini came to know of this, she immediately sent a trusted Brahmana messenger to Sri Krishna in Dwarka, and explaining her predicament, she requested him to come kidnap her and except her as his wife. Excepting her request, Sri Krishna went and kidnapped her and excepted her as his wife. Lord Balaram also went after Krishna when he got news of the happenings and he fought the battle with Jarasandha and Shishupal while Krishna was kidnapping Rukmini. On Rukmini’s request, Rukmi, who had followed the chariot of Krishna, was spared from being killed by Krishna after the fight that ensued between them when Rukmi caught up with Krishna’s chariot, but, as a punishment, Sri Krishna shaved his head and left him to live with the dishonor of being defeated. Taking his newly wedded bride back to Dwaraka, where the residents of the place welcomed them with a grand festival to celebrate the occasion, Rukmini devi went on to be Krishna’s most prominent wife and the mother of Pradyuman and 9 other sons and 1 daughter of Krishna. There are many other pastimes as well, showing the transcendental glories of Rukmini devi, like the time when Satyabhama devi, Krishna’s another wife, gave Krishna in donation to Narad muni, in accordance to a vrata that he told her to do in order to gain more affection from her husband, and then he instructed her to give as much gold and jewels in donation as Krishna’s weight. She put all her jewels and even requested the other queens to give their jewels, but the scale would not budge at all. She finally had to swallow her pride and request Rukmini to solve the situation and Rukmini devi, offering her respects to her husband, placed a leaf of Tulsi on the scale and immediately the scales tipped to the other side. This pastime shows her devotion to her husband and extols her transcendental qualities. Srimati Rukmini devi is extremely devotes and submissive to her husband Sri Krishna and is the epitome of Swakiya rasa. She is the expansion of Srimati Candravali, the lead Sakhi of the rival group in Sri Vrindavan dham. On her appearance day, we offer our respects to her and hope to receive her mercy to someday engage in the service of Sri Krishna in Sri Vrindavan dham as the maid servants of Srimati Radhika.