Devaki
In Hinduism, Devaki (देवकी) is the wife of Vasudeva and biological mother of Krishna.[1]
She was the daughter of Devaka, the younger brother of King Ugrasena of Mathura. She was a partial incarnation of Aditi, the mother of the Devas.
Imprisonment
Devaki and Vasudeva were imprisoned by her brother, Kamsa or Kansa, due to a prophecy that her eighth son would kill him. Kansa then killed six of their sons. The seventh, Balarama, escaped death by being transferred to the womb of Vasudeva's other wife, Rohini, while a female child (an incarnation of the goddess Yoga-Nidra or Maya) was placed in Yashoda's womb. The eighth son, Krishna (who was actually an Avatar of Vishnu), was born at midnight and taken by Vasudeva across the Yamuna river to be raised by Nanda and Yasoda in the neighboring village of Gokul. In place of Krishna, Vasudeva took Yashoda's just born child (the incarnation of Yogmaya). After Vasudeva's return to Mathura with the baby girl (yog-maya), Kansa tried to destroy her. Then she flew out of his hands, turned into an eight-armed goddess and warned him: "fool, the agent of your death has already been born on this earth." Lord Krishna and Balarama returned to Mathura as adolescent boys and killed the despotic Kansa. Subsequently, Krishna freed his parents, and his grand-uncle Ugrasena (who had also been locked up).
Post Kansa's death
Vasudeva and Devaki moved to Dwaraka with the rest of Mathura's population.
See also
References
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