| Canto 10: The Summum Bonum | Chapter 84: The Sages' Teachings at Kurukshetra |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.84.47
SYNONYMS
tam — him; abhyashińcan — they sprinkled with sacred water; vidhivat — according to scriptural rules; aktam — his eyes decorated with mascara; abhyaktam — his body smeared with newly-churned butter; ritvijah — the priests; patnībhih — along with his wives; ashtā-daśabhih — eighteen; soma-rājam — the kingly; iva — as if; udubhih — with stars.
TRANSLATION
After Vasudeva's eyes had been decorated with black cosmetic and his body smeared with fresh butter, the priests initiated him according to scriptural rules by sprinkling him and his eighteen wives with sacred water. Encircled by his wives, he resembled the regal moon encircled by stars.
PURPORT
Devakī was Vasudeva's principal wife, but she had several co-wives, including her six sisters. This fact is recorded in the Ninth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:
devakaś cograsenaś ca
catvāro devakātmajāh
sudevo devavardhanah
dhritadevādayo nripa
śāntidevopadevā ca
"Āhuka had two sons, named Devaka and Ugrasena. Devaka had four sons, named Devavān, Upadeva, Sudeva and Devavardhana, and he also had seven daughters, named Śāntidevā, Upadevā, Śrīdevā, Devarakshitā, Sahadevā, Devakī and Dhritadevā. Dhritadevā was the eldest. Vasudeva, the father of Krishna, married all these sisters." (Bhāg. 9.24.21-23)
Some of Vasudeva's other wives are mentioned a few verses later:
devakī-pramukhāś cāsan
"Devakī, Pauravī, Rohinī, Bhadrā, Madirā, Rocanā, Ilā and others were all wives of Ānakadundubhi [Vasudeva]. Among them all, Devakī was the chief." (Bhāg. 9.24.45)
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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