Vasudeva
| Vasudeva | |
|---|---|
Chandravamsha |
The patronymic
Family
Vasudeva was born to the Yadava king
Wives and children
Vasudeva married Devaki, and also had other wives such as Pauravi Rohini, Madira, Vaishakhi, Bhadra, Sunama, Sahadeva, Shantideva, Shrideva, Devarakshita, Vrikadevi, Upadevi and Badarva. Rohini bore several sons, namely, Balarama, Sarana and Shatha.[10][11] Vrikadevi gave birth to Avagaha and Nandaka.[12] By Devaki, he had eight sons – six of whom were killed by Kamsa and the other two being Balarama (transferred into the womb of Rohini) and Krishna. He also had a daughter – Subhadra from Rohini.[13] In some versions of the Bhagavata Purana, Vasudeva also married Sutanu, the princess of Kasi, and they had a son named Paundraka.[14]
Descendants
Vasudeva traced a number of descendants through his sons. Sarana had many sons like Satyadhriti and Marsti, and Shatha had a son called Sarthi. Balarama married Revati and had two sons – Nishatha and Ulmuka & a daughter – Vatsala/Shashirekha. Krishna had eight principal wives, and he begat many children from them, such as Pradyumna, Samba, Bhanu etc., and they also had many children. Vasudeva's daughter Subhadra married Pandava prince Arjuna, and they had a son Abhimanyu. Ultimately, it was Abhimanyu's son Parikshit who ascended the Kuru throne after Yudhishthira.
Many of the Yadavas killed themselves in the Yadava fratricide. Krishna, Balarama and Vasudeva later gave up their lives, and the Pandavas collected the remaining Yadava children and ladies with them to Indraprastha, where Pradyumma's grandson Vajra was crowned as king of Mathura, and some other survivors also were crowned as kings of different places (See Mausala Parva).
The sons of Vasudeva were related to
नारायाणाय विद्महे वासुदेवाय धीमहि तन्नो विष्णुः प्रचोदयात्
nārāyāṇāya vidmahē vāsudēvāya dhīmahi tannō viṣṇuḥ pracōdayāt
We endeavor to know Narayana, we meditate on Vāsudeva and Vishnu bestows wisdom on us.
This verse asserts that Narayana, Vāsudeva (Krishna), and Vishnu are synonymous.
Other evidence is from archeological inscriptions, where Bhagavan is documented epigraphically to be from around 100 BCE, such as in the inscriptions of the
Kashyapa incarnated as Vasudeva
Sage Kashyapa is said to have incarnated as Vasudeva, the father of Krishna, due to a curse of the deities Varuna or Brahma.
Once, the sage is said to have performed a yajna (a ritual sacrifice) in his hermitage. Kashyapa sought the help of the god Varuna for the offerings of milk and ghee. Varuna lent the sage a divine cow that would provide him the required offerings. After completing the sacrifice, Kashyapa delayed in returning the cow back to the deity. Varuna cursed the sage and his wife, Aditi, to be born on earth as Vasudeva and Devaki, the parents of Vishnu in his avatar of Krishna.[22]
In other iterations, Kashyapa is stated to have stolen a divine cow from Varuna for the performance of a ritual sacrifice. The deity requested Brahma for his intervention. For his theft of a cow, Brahma cursed Kashyapa to be born on earth as a cowherd. Since his wives, Aditi and Surasa, had assisted him in concealing the cows in his hermitage, they were also born on earth as his two wives, Devaki and Rohini.[23][24]
See also
| Part of a series on |
| Hinduism |
|---|
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- Heliodorus pillar
- Hathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions
- Naneghat
- Vasu Doorjamb Inscription
- Vasudeva Upanishad
References
- ISBN 978-81-7022-375-7.
- ISBN 978-1-61069-211-3.
- ISBN 978-90-04-06498-0.
- ISBN 978-1-4828-1925-0.
- ]
- ISBN 978-81-85579-57-3.
- ^ Fortson (2004:116f)
- ^ Lok Nath Soni, The cattle and the stick: an ethnographic profile of the Raut of Chhattisgarh. Anthropological Survey of India, Govt. of India, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Dept. of Culture (2000).
- ISBN 978-81-85579-57-3.
- ^ "Shatha, Śaṭha, Satha, Saṭha, Śaṭhā: 19 definitions". 3 August 2014.
- ^ "Sharana, Sārana, Sarana, Saraṇa, Sāraṇā, Śaraṇa, Sāraṇa, Saraṇā: 25 definitions". 12 April 2009.
- ^ "Vrikadevi, Vṛkadevī: 2 definitions". 18 February 2017.
- ^ "The story of the previous birth of Shishupala and the sons of Vasudeva [Chapter XV]". 30 August 2014.
- ^ Bhagavata Purana Skandha X Chapter 66, Motilal Bansaridass Publishers Book 4 Appendix (66A) pages 1884- 1885, additional verses in Vijaya-dhvaja's Bhagavata Purana, Chapter 69
- ^ Hattangadi 1999, p. ॥ ७॥ Adhayaya.
- ^ ISBN 978-8120810983, page 132-134, 212-218
- ^ a b Parmeshwaranand 2000, pp. 458–459.
- ^ Feuerstein 1989, pp. 119–120.
- ^ Olivelle 1998, pp. 11–14.
- ^ Srinivasan 1997, pp. 112, 120.
- OCLC 83369960
- ISBN 978-3-030-73165-6.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0597-2.
- ISBN 978-0-89581-226-1.
References
- Fortson, Benjamin W. IV (2004). Indo-European Language and Culture. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 1-4051-0316-7.
- Feuerstein, Georg (1989). Yoga: The Technology of Ecstasy. Tarcher. ISBN 978-0-87477-525-9.
- Hattangadi, Sunder (1999). "महानारायणोपनिषत् (Mahanarayana Upanishad)" (PDF) (in Sanskrit). Retrieved 23 January 2016.
- Olivelle, Patrick (2011), Ascetics and Brahmins: Studies in Ideologies and Institutions, ISBN 978-0-85728-432-7
- Olivelle, Patrick (1998), Upaniṣads, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-283576-5
- Parmeshwaranand, S (2000). Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Upanisads. Sarup & Sons. ISBN 978-81-7625-148-8.
- ISBN 978-0-7661-3673-1.
- Srinivasan, Doris (1997). Many Heads, Arms, and Eyes. BRILL Academic. ISBN 978-90-04-10758-8.
Further reading
- RG Bhandarkar: "Vasudeva of Panini" 4.3.98. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1910.