Ashtabharya

rdf:langString Ashtabharya

rdf:langString The Ashtabharya or Ashta-bharya(s) is the group of eight principal queen-consorts of Hindu god Krishna, the king of Dvaraka in the Dvapara Yuga (epoch). The most popular list, found in the Bhagavata Purana, includes: Rukmini, Satyabhama, Jambavati, Kalindi, Mitravinda, Nagnajiti, Bhadra, and Lakshmana. Variations exist in the Vishnu Purana and the Harivamsa, which includes queens called Madri or Rohini, instead of Bhadra. Most of them were princesses. In Hinduism, all of Krishna's consorts including Radha are revered as the avatars of the goddess Lakshmi while the Gopis of Braj are considered as Radha's manifestations. Rukmini, the princess of Vidarbha was Krishna's first wife and chief queen (Patrani) of Dvaraka. She is considered as the avatar of Sridevi, the goddess of prosperity. Satyabhama, the third wife, a Yadava princess, is considered as Lakshmi's aspect of the earth-goddess Bhudevi. Jambavati is believed to be the manifestation of the third aspect of Lakshmi, Niladevi. Kalindi, the goddess of the river Yamuna, is worshipped independently. Besides the Ashtabharya, Krishna had 16,000 or 16,100 ceremonial wives. The texts also mention the many children Krishna fathered by the Ashtabharya, the most prominent being the crown-prince Pradyumna, son of Rukmini.