When Krishna grew up, He left the cowherd village of Vrindavan to take up His role as a great prince. He had not married as yet.
In another kingdom, the princess Rukmini was betrothed to marry a prince named Sisupala. But she did not want to marry him. She had heard of Krishna and, just by hearing of Him, she desired to marry Him. Actually, Rukmini is the Goddess of Fortune and is eternally married to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, so she could not have married some ordinary prince. She secretly wrote a letter to Krishna asking Him to rescue her and marry her, and she sent the letter by way of a trusted brahmana.
When Krishna received the letter, He resolved to go and kidnap her immediately from the situation and take her back with him. He called for his driver, Daruka, to get His chariot and horses ready.
Krishna’s horses were very special horses. They could run with the speed of the mind, and were unusual colors: one was greenish, one was the color of a cloud, one was the color of ice, and one was the color of ashes.
The next morning Krishna arrived in the kingdom of Vidharba where Rukmini was anxiously waiting for Him. She had full faith that He would come, but her wedding to Sisupala had been set for that very day and all the arrangements were being made for the ceremony. As she walked from the temple of Goddess Durga, where she had gone to offer prayers as was the custom for a bride, she scanned the crowd of admiring princes, looking for Krishna. When she saw Him, she recognized Him at once as Krishna, and He swept her up into His chariot and triumphantly rode out of the city.
The frustrated would-be bridegroom, along with his soldiers and royal friends, all raced after Krishna’s chariot, and there was a battle, but Krishna won and took Rukmini home with Him to be His first wife.

back | next