Lord Balarama Does Not Tolerate Cheaters

"Balarama Kills Rukmi"

Artist: (Lithuanian) Devaki Dasi.

"The King of Kalinga was a friend of Rukmī’s and he gave him the ill advice to play with Balarāma and thus defeat Him in a bet. Amongst the kṣatriya kings, betting and gambling in chess was not uncommon. If someone challenged a friend to play on the chessboard, the friend could not deny the challenge. Śrī Balarāmajī was not a very expert chess player, and this was known to the King of Kaliṅga. 

So Rukmī was advised to retaliate against the family members of Kṛṣṇa by challenging Balarāma to play chess. Although not a very expert chess player, Śrī Balarāmajī was very enthusiastic in sporting activities. He accepted the challenge of Rukmī and sat down to play. Betting was with gold coins, and Balarāma first of all challenged with one hundred coins, then 1,000 coins, then 10,000 coins. Each time, Balarāma lost, and Rukmī became victorious.

Śrī Balarāma’s losing the game was an opportunity for the King of Kaliṅga to criticize Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Thus the King of Kaliṅga was talking jokingly and purposefully showing his teeth to Balarāma. Because Balarāma was the loser in the game, He was a little intolerant of the sarcastic joking words. He became a little agitated, and when Rukmī again challenged Balarāma, he made a bet of 100,000 gold coins. 

Fortunately, this time Balarāma won. Although Balarāmajī had won, Rukmī, out of his cunningness, began to claim that Balarāma was the loser and that he himself had won. Because of this lie, Balarāmajī became most angry with Rukmī. His agitation was so sudden and great that it appeared like a tidal wave in the ocean on a full moon day. Balarāma’s eyes are naturally reddish, and when He became agitated and angry His eyes became more reddish. This time He challenged and made a bet of a hundred million coins.

Again Balarāma was the winner according to the rules of chess, but Rukmī again cunningly began to claim that he had won. Rukmī appealed to the princes present, and he especially mentioned the name of the King of Kaliṅga. At that time there was a voice from the air during the dispute, and it announced that for all honest purposes Balarāma, the actual winner of this game, was being abused and that the statement of Rukmī that he had won was absolutely false.

In spite of this divine voice, Rukmī insisted that Balarāma had lost, and by his persistence it appeared that he had death upon his head. Falsely puffed up by the ill advice of his friend, he did not give much importance to the oracle, and he began to criticize Balarāmajī. He said, “My dear Balarāmajī, You two brothers, cowherd boys only, may be very expert in tending cows, but how can You be expert in playing chess or shooting arrows on the battlefield? These arts are well-known only to the princely order.” 

Hearing this kind of pinching talk by Rukmī and hearing the loud laughter of all the other princes present there, Lord Balarāma became as agitated as burning cinders. He immediately took a club in His hand and, without any further talk, struck Rukmī on the head. From that one blow, Rukmī fell down immediately and was dead and gone. Thus Rukmī was killed by Balarāma on that auspicious occasion of Aniruddha’s marriage. ¶"

https://prabhupada.io/books/kb/61