Editing Devaki

{{short description|Mother of Hindu god Krishna}}
{{About|the mother of [[Krishna]]||}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox deity
| texts = [[Bhagavata Purana]], [[Mahabharata]]
| image = Krishna meets parents.jpg
| caption = [[Krishna]] and [[Balarama]] meet their parents (Painting by [[Raja Ravi Varma]])
| spouse = [[Vasudeva]]
| children = [[Balarama]] and [[Krishna]] (sons)<br>[[Subhadra]] (step-daughter)<br>Sadgarbha (first six children){{efn|Devaki bore eight children, but the first six were killed by her brother [[Kamsa]] upon their birth. Balarama was conceived by Devaki, but he was transferred into the womb of [[Rohini (wife of Vasudeva)|Rohini]] by the goddess [[Yogamaya]].}}
| parents = Devaka/Devapa (father)
| type = Hindu
| siblings = Dhrtadeva, Santideva, Upadeva, Srideva, Devaraksita, and Sahadeva (sisters)<br>
Devavana, Upadeva, Sudeva, Devavardhana (brothers)<br>Subala (half-sister, wife of Vidura)
| dynasty = [[Yadu|Yaduvamsha]]
}}

'''Devaki''' ([[Sanskrit]]: देवकी, [[International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration|IAST]]: ''Devakī'') is a character in [[Hindu texts|Hindu literature]], most noted for being the mother of the god [[Krishna]].<ref name="sacred-texts1">{{cite book|chapter-url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp108.htm|title=The Vishnu Purana: Book IV|chapter=XV|page=438}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m06/m06123.htm |title=The Mahabharata: Book VI |publisher=[[Sacred-texts.com]]|page=311|chapter=123}}</ref> She is one of the seven daughters of Devapa or Devaka, a king of the [[Yadu|Yadu dynasty]], and has four brothers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mani |first=Vettam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mvXsDwAAQBAJ&dq=devaki+devaka&pg=PA210 |title=Puranic Encyclopedia: A Comprehensive Work with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature |date=2015-01-01 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0597-2 |pages=210}}</ref> She is one of the wives of [[Vasudeva]].<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp107.htm |title=The Vishnu Purana: Book IV|publisher=[[Sacred-texts.com]]|page=435|chapter=XIV}}</ref> Her cousin is [[Kamsa]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chapple |first=Christopher Key |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ShlAAAAQBAJ&dq=kamsa+devaki%27s+cousin&pg=PA14 |title=The Bhagavad Gita: Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition |date=2009-03-19 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-1-4384-2841-3 |pages=14}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z0haDwAAQBAJ&dq=kamsa+devaki%27s+cousin&pg=PA20 |last=Herman |first=A. L. |date=2018-05-04 |title=A Brief Introduction To Hinduism: Religion, Philosophy, And Ways Of Liberation |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-98238-5 |pages=20}}</ref> the king of Mathura, a cruel tyrant who had been told by [[Narada]] that he had been an [[asura]] killed by [[Vishnu]] in his previous life ([[Kalanemi]]), exacerbating his wickedness.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Knapp |first=Stephen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a2KPChj7lTwC&dq=kamsa+devaki&pg=PA222 |title=The Heart of kshatriya Hinduism: The Eastern Path to Freedom, Empowerment And Illumination |date=2005 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=978-0-595-35075-9}}</ref> According to popular tradition, Devaki is considered to be an incarnation of [[Aditi]], a mother goddess who was the daughter of [[Daksha]] and the wife of [[Kashyapa]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mani |first=Vettam |title=Puranic Encyclopedia: A Comprehensive Work with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature |date=2015-01-01 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0597-2 |pages=210 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mvXsDwAAQBAJ&dq=devaki+devaka&pg=PA210}}</ref>

==Marriage ==
[[File:Vasudeva and Devaki traveling in a carriage..jpg|thumb|Vasudeva and Devaki traveling in a carriage]]
During the nuptials of Vasudeva and Devaki following the former's wedding with his bride's six older sisters, [[Vishnu]] picked a lock of hair from his mount [[Shesha]] as well as his own, proclaiming that they would take be born as Devaki's seventh and eighth children, respectively.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Monaghan |first=Patricia |date=2014-04-01 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cj5OAwAAQBAJ&dq=devaki+story&pg=PA95 |title=Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines |publisher=New World Library |isbn=978-1-60868-218-8 |pages=95}}</ref> After the marriage ceremony, [[Kamsa]] volunteered to escort the newly-weds to [[Mathura]] and drove their chariot. A celestial voice, an [[wikt:akashvani|aśarīrī]], prophesied that the eighth child of Devaki would become Kamsa's death, and deliver the land from his wickedness. Angered, Kamsa rose to kill Devaki, but was stopped by Vasudeva, who promised to give each child to Kamsa, whom he would subsequently kill.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://bhagavata.org/canto10/chapter1.html#Text%2030|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 10|chapter=1 |publisher=Bhagavata.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 10|chapter-url=http://bhagavata.org/canto10/chapter1.html#Text%2034 |chapter=1|publisher=Bhagavata.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 10|chapter-url=http://bhagavata.org/canto10/chapter1.html#Text%2054|chapter=1|publisher=Bhagavata.org}}</ref>

==Imprisonment==
[[File:Birth & escape of krishna vmpa musueum.jpg|thumb|Birth and escape of Krishna.]]
Devaki and Vasudeva were imprisoned by Kamsa due to the paranoia that had taken root in the tyrant's mind.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mahabharata-resources.org/harivamsa/vishnuparva/hv_2_001.html |title=harivaMsha in the mahAbharata - viShNuparva: Chapter 1 - Advent of Narada and Kansa's Response |access-date=23 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425010154/http://mahabharata-resources.org/harivamsa/vishnuparva/hv_2_001.html|archive-date=25 April 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://bhagavata.org/canto10/chapter1.html#Text%2064|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 10|chapter=1|publisher=Bhagavata.org}}</ref> Her six children were killed, while the seventh [[Balarama]] survived after being transferred by divine will into the uterus of [[Rohini (wife of Vasudeva)|Rohini]], one of the other wives of Vasudeva.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://bhagavata.org/canto10/chapter2.html#Text%208|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 10|chapter=2|publisher=Bhagavata.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp118.htm|title=The Vishnu Purana: Book V|chapter=I|pages=490–491}}</ref> 

Devaki's six dead sons were named Kírttimat, Sushena, Udayin, Bhadrasena, Rijudasa, and Bhadradeha.<ref name="sacred-texts1"/> According to the [[Harivamsa]], they were the reincarnations of the sons of the asura [[Kalanemi]]. They had performed intense austerities to worship the creator deity [[Brahma]], unbeknownst to their own grandfather, [[Hiranyakashipu]]. The latter, furious at their actions, cursed them to be born on earth and be slain by Kansa, who himself was a form of their father.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Debroy |first=Bibek |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BRnpDAAAQBAJ&q=harivamsa |title=Harivamsha |date=2016-09-09 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-93-86057-91-4}}</ref>

Devaki soon mothered [[Balarama]] through the surrogacy of Rohini.<ref name="sacred-texts2">{{cite book|chapter-url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp120.htm#page_502 |title=The Vishnu Purana: Book V|chapter=III|page=502}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 10|publisher=Bhagavata.org |chapter=3|chapter-url=http://bhagavata.org/canto10/chapter3.html#Text%2051}}</ref> 

When Devaki delivered Krishna, he revealed his divine form to his parents, and ordered Vasudeva to take him to [[Gokul|Gokulam]], placing all the prison guards under a spell of slumber, so that Kamsa would not realise that his prophesied killer had been born. Vasudeva swapped Krishna with [[Vindhyavasini|Yogamaya]], the daughter who had been born to Nanda and Yashoda on the very same day, and returned to the cell.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-08-30 |title=Yogamaya enters into the womb of Yashoda and Hari into Devaki [Chapter II] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/vishnu-purana-wilson/d/doc116024.html |access-date=2022-09-12 |website=www.wisdomlib.org}}</ref> 

When Kamsa stormed into the chamber after the spell had worn out, he deduced that Devaki had given birth to a girl. Devaki protested against the killing of the daughter of [[Nanda Baba|Nanda]] and [[Yashoda]], but Kamsa hurled her against a rock, recognising that the gender of his prophesied slayer had not been specified. Yashoda's daughter transformed into an eight-armed goddess, and stated, "Fool, your destroyer has already been born elsewhere." She subsequently vanished into the heavens.<ref name="sacred-texts2" />

Devaki and Vasudeva's imprisonment came to an end after Kamsa's death.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://bhagavata.org/canto10/chapter44.html#Text%2050|title=Srimad Bhagavatam: Canto 10|chapter=44|publisher=Bhagavata.org}}</ref>

==Salvation to the Sadgarbhas==
Devaki, upon hearing how Krishna restored his Guru [[Sandipani]]'s son, wished to see her own children.<ref name=bhagavata>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://bhagavata.org/canto10/chapter85.html#Text%2032-33|title=SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM: CANTO 10|chapter=85 |publisher=Bhagavata.org}}</ref> Krishna acceded her request and brought the children to Devaki from [[Patala]].<ref name=bhagavata/><ref name=chapter85>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://bhagavata.org/canto10/chapter85.html#Text%2052|title=SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM: CANTO 10|chapter=85 |publisher=Bhagavata.org}}</ref> She nursed them with her milk and they attained heaven.<ref name=chapter85/>

==Death==
After the passing of Vasudeva after the [[Mausala Parva|Yadu massacre]], Devaki cremated herself on Vasudeva's pyre, performing [[Sati (practice)|sati]], along with his other wives, Rohini, Bhadra, and Madira.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m16/m16007.htm|title=The Mahabharata, Book 16: Mausala Parva: Section 7}}</ref>

==Worship ==
[[File:Marianne Stokes - Devaki mother of Krishna.jpg|thumb|A painting of Devaki with Krishna]]
In the state of [[Goa]], ''Devaki Krishna Sansthan'' temple is a unique temple, perhaps is the only temple in India where Krishna is worshiped alongside mother Devaki. The main deity Devakikrishna and affiliate deities of Bhumika Devi, Laxmi Ravalnath, Mallinath, Katyayani, Chodaneshwar and Dhada Shankar were originally located at ''Choodamani'' island ([[Chorão (Island)|Chorão]] island of today). To avoid persecution during the [[Goa Inquisition]] they were taken to [[Bicholim#Mayem Lake|Mayem]] in [[Bicholim]] and from there shifted to the present location at [[Mashel]]. The [[garbhagriha]] (inner sanctum) of the temple has an [[Murti|idol]] of Devaki and Krishna. The idol of Devaki is in standing posture holding baby Krishna with her left hand. Mata Devaki is worshipped separately in a small temple dedicated to her inside the Dwarkadhish temple complex in Dwarka, Gujarat.<ref>{{cite web|title=Devkikrishna Temple, Marcel|url=http://www.goatourism.gov.in/destinations/temples/140-devkikrishna-temple-marcel|website=www.goatourism.gov.in|publisher=Govt of Goa|access-date=3 August 2019|ref=Goa}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Commons category}}
*[[Iringole Kavu]]
*[[Yogmaya Temple]]
*[[Gomanta kingdom]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{HinduMythology}}

[[Category:People related to Krishna]]
[[Category:Characters in the Mahabharata]]
[[Category:Characters in the Bhagavata Purana]]