Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.84.47

tam abhyaṣiñcan vidhi-vad

aktam abhyaktam ṛtvijaḥ

patnībhir aṣṭā-daśabhiḥ

soma-rājam ivoḍubhiḥ

SYNONYMS

tam — him; abhyaṣiñcan — they sprinkled with sacred water; vidhivat — according to scriptural rules; aktam — his eyes decorated with mascara; abhyaktam — his body smeared with newly-churned butter; ṛtvijaḥ — the priests; patnībhiḥ — along with his wives; aṣṭā-daśabhiḥ — eighteen; soma-rājam — the kingly; iva — as if; uḍubhiḥ — 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 devakātmajāḥ

devavān upadevaś ca

sudevo devavardhanaḥ

teṣāḿ svasāraḥ saptāsan

dhṛtadevādayo nṛpa

śāntidevopadevā ca

śrīdevā devarakṣitā

sahadevā devakī ca

vasudeva uvāha tāḥ

"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, Devarakṣitā, Sahadevā, Devakī and Dhṛtadevā. Dhṛtadevā was the eldest. Vasudeva, the father of Kṛṣṇa, married all these sisters." (Bhāg. 9.24.21-23)

Some of Vasudeva's other wives are mentioned a few verses later:

pauravī rohiṇī bhadrā

madirā rocanā ilā

devakī-pramukhāś cāsan

patnya ānakadundubheḥ

"Devakī, Pauravī, Rohiṇī, 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
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari