| Vasudeva | |
|---|---|
 Vasudeva carrying the newborn Krishna to Nanda's house in Gokula across the river Yamuna | |
| Devanagari | वसुदेव |
| Venerated in | Vaishnavism |
| Texts | Bhagavata Purana,Harivamsa,Vishnu Purana,Brahma Purana,Mahabharata |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | Shurasena (father)Marisha (mother) |
| Spouse | Rohini,Devaki, andvarious other wives |
| Children | Balarama,Krishna,Subhadra, andvarious other children |
| Dynasty | Yaduvamsha –Chandravamsha |
Vasudeva (/ˌvʌsuˈdeɪvə/;Sanskrit: वसुदेव[ʋɐsudéːʋɐ]), also calledAnakadundubhi (anakas anddundubhis both refer todrums, after the musicians who played these instruments at the time of his birth),[1][2] is the father of the Hindu deitiesKrishna (Vāsudeva, i.e. "son of Vasudeva"),Balarama, andSubhadra. He was a king of theVrishnis.[3] The son of the Yadava kingShurasena, he was also the second cousin ofNanda, the foster-father of Krishna.[4][5][6] His sisterKunti was married toPandu.
The patronymicVāsudeva (with apronouncedā) is a popularname of Krishna, the son of Vasudeva andDevaki. "Vāsudeva" is avṛddhi, a derivative of the short form "Vasudeva", a linguistic pragmatic in Sanskrit signifying "of, belonging to, descended from".[7] "Vasudeva" as an object of worship in Hinduism usually refers to the sonVāsudeva (Krishna), rather than his father Vasudeva.
Vasudeva was born to theYadava (not to be confused withYadav) kingShurasena in theSurasena kingdom of Khandalwansha.[8] Vasudeva had many brothers such as Devashrava and Devabhaga, and 5 sisters Srutakirti,Kunti, Rajadhidevi, Srutadeva (Mother of theDantavakra), and Shrutasravas (mother ofShishupala). According to theHarivamsa Purana, Vasudeva andNanda, theKshatriya chief of Gokula, were brothers or cousins.[9][10]
Vasudeva marriedDevaki, and also had other wives such asPauravi Rohini, Madira, Vaishakhi, Bhadra, Sunama, Sahadeva, Shantideva, Shrideva, Devarakshita, Vrikadevi, Upadevi and Badarva. Rohini bore several sons, namely,Balarama, Sarana and Shatha.[11][12] Vrikadevi gave birth to Avagaha and Nandaka.[13] By Devaki, he had eight sons – six of whom were killed byKamsa and the other two being Balarama (transferred into the womb of Rohini) andKrishna. He also had a daughter –Subhadra from Rohini.[14] In some versions of the Bhagavata Purana, Vasudeva also married Sutanu, the princess of Kasi, and they had a son namedPaundraka.[15]
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 marriedRevati and had two sons – Nishatha and Ulmuka & a daughter – Vatsala/Shashirekha. Krishna hadeight principal wives, and he begat many children from them, such asPradyumna,Samba, Bhanu etc., and they also had many children. Vasudeva's daughterSubhadra married Pandava princeArjuna, and they had a sonAbhimanyu. Ultimately, it was Abhimanyu's sonParikshit who ascended theKuru throne afterYudhishthira.
Many of the Yadavas killed themselves in theYadava fratricide. Krishna, Balarama and Vasudeva later gave up their lives, and thePandavas collected the remaining Yadava children and ladies with them toIndraprastha, where Pradyumma's grandson Vajra was crowned as king ofMathura, and some other survivors also were crowned as kings of different places.(SeeMausala Parva).Many migrated southwards and known asvira balija orvir banajiga and created a powerful warrior merchant class of south India and rulednayaka dynasties.[16]
The sons of Vasudeva were related toBhagavatism that was largely formed by the 1st-millennium BCE whereVāsudeva (Krishna, the son of Vasudeva) was worshiped as supreme ultimate reality. This is evidenced by texts and archaeological evidence. As textual evidence, theMahanarayana Upanishad records the verse:
नारायाणाय विद्महेवासुदेवाय धीमहि तन्नो विष्णुः प्रचोदयात्
nārāyāṇāya vidmahē vāsudēvāya dhīmahi tannō viṣṇuḥ pracōdayāt
We endeavor to know Narayana, we meditate on Vāsudeva andVishnu bestows wisdom on us.
This verse asserts that Narayana, Vāsudeva (Krishna), and Vishnu are synonymous.[18] The author and the century in which the above Mahanarayana Upanishad was composed is unknown. The relative chronology of the text, based on its poetic verse and textual style, has been proposed by Parmeshwaranand to the same period of composition asKatha,Isha,Mundaka andShvetashvatara Upanishads, but beforeMaitri,Prashna andMandukya Upanishad.[19] Feuerstein places the relative composition chronology of Mahanarayana to be about that of Mundaka and PrashnaUpanishads.[20] These relative chronology estimates date the text to second half of 1st millennium BCE.[19][21] Srinivasan suggests a later date for the composition of the Mahanarayana Upanishad, one after about 300 BCE and probably in the centuries around the start of the common era.[22]
Other evidence is from archeological inscriptions, whereBhagavan is documented epigraphically to be from around 100 BCE, such as in the inscriptions of theHeliodorus pillar. AnIndo-Greek ambassador fromTaxila named Heliodorus, of this era, visited the court of aShunga king, and addresses himself as a Bhagavata on this pillar, an epithet scholars consider as evidence of Vāsudeva worship was well established in 1st millennium BCE.[23] A popular short prayer for worshipping Vāsudeva isDwadashaakshar.
SageKashyapa is said to have incarnated as Vasudeva, the father of Krishna, due to a curse of the deities Varuna orBrahma.
Once, the sage is said to have performed ayajna (a ritual sacrifice) in hishermitage. Kashyapa sought the help of the godVaruna for the offerings of milk andghee. 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.[24]
In other iterations, Kashyapa is stated to have stolen a divine cow from Varuna for the performance of a ritual sacrifice. The deity requestedBrahma 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 andRohini.[25][26]
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