Devakī’s Six Sons

Devakī was the mother of Kṛshṇa. Her first six sons were killed by Kaṃsa at birth. At Samantapañcaka, during an eclipse gathering, she heard that Kṛshṇa and Balarāma had once brought back the dead son of their guru Sāndīpani from Yamaloka. In her grief she asked them to bring back her own six sons. Kṛshṇa told her who those six really were, went down with Balarāma to the realm of Sutala, and brought them to her. The six were freed from a śāpa (a curse) and rose to devaloka.

Vasudeva’s stotra and Kṛshṇa’s answer

At Samantapañcaka, Vasudeva was filled with longing and wonder at his divine sons. He offered a heartfelt stotra (hymn of praise) to Kṛshṇa and Balarāma. He said that they were not only his sons but the supreme Purusha, who enters into all creation and holds it up. He admitted that his long attachment to them as sons, and his earlier attachment to the world, was itself the māyā of Kṛshṇa working through him.

Kṛshṇa listened warmly and replied: “O Father, your words are entirely right. All that you have said is the pure truth of ātma-tattva. I, you, this elder brother, these citizens of Dvārakā, and all beings that move and do not move, must all be known as Brahmarūpa alone. The ātmā is advaita (without a second), self-luminous, eternal and nirguṇa (without qualities). It appears as many because of the guṇas that māyā throws up, just as the same sky looks different in different pots.”

Vasudeva’s doubt about the many being real melted away at the words of Kṛshṇa. He fell silent in quiet bliss.

Devakī’s plea for her sons

Devakī was there. She had heard that Kṛshṇa and Balarāma had once brought the dead son of their guru Sāndīpani back from Yamaloka. She was struck with grief as she remembered her own six sons, whom Kaṃsa had killed at birth. With tears she went to her divine sons and said:

“O Balarāma! O Kṛshṇa! You are both Yogeśvaras, lords even over the lords of yoga. You brought a boy back from the realm of Yama for your guru. Now fulfil my longing too. Bring me back the six sons Kaṃsa killed. I want to see them and hold them, just once.”

The secret of the six sons

Kṛshṇa told her where they came from. In the Svāyambhuva Manvantara, six sons were born to the Prajāpati Marīci and his wife Ūrṇā. One day they saw Brahmā desire his own daughter, and they laughed at him. For that wrong act, a śāpa fell on them. They had to take birth at once as asuras, the sons of Hiraṇyakaśipu. Their names were Smara, Udgītha, Parishvanga, Patanga, Kshudrabhṛt and Ghṛṇī.

Later, by the working of Yogamāyā, these six were moved from the line of Hiraṇyakaśipu into the womb of Devakī. They were born there and killed by Kaṃsa. Now they were living in Sutala, the great shining realm below the earth that belongs to Bali Cakravartī, waiting to finish their path to moksha.

“We will bring them back for you,” Kṛshṇa promised. “After you see them, they will be free of their śāpa and will rise to devaloka.”

The descent to Sutala and Bali’s welcome

By the power of Yogamāyā, Kṛshṇa and Balarāma entered Sutala. Bali Cakravartī, the generous asura king who had given up everything to Vāmana, rose at once when he saw them come in. His heart overflowed with joy. He and all his followers stood, bowed and fell at their feet.

Bali gave them splendid seats and washed their feet. He placed that holy water on his own head and on the heads of his attendants. He offered them fine clothes, ornaments, ointments, incense, lamps and the best of foods. Then, with eyes full of tears of bhakti (loving devotion) and a voice breaking with feeling, he offered a long and deep stotra:

“O Śrī Kṛshṇa, you alone are the Paramātmā. You are the creator, the Sāṃkhya-yogin, the karma-yogin. To you endless namaskāras. Even great ṛshis rarely see the two of you, yet by the grace of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa this sight has come to us, who are born of rajas and tamas. What greater wonder can there be? I have been favoured by you, whom even those of pure sattva cannot reach in decades of *tapas (austerity).”*

Bali then asked: “O Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, command me. What can I do for you? What your servants do in obedience to you is itself the path to moksha.”

The return of the six

Kṛshṇa said to Bali: “These six, Smara, Udgītha and the others, have been living here with you. Their mother Devakī is mourning them. We have come to take them back. After she sees them and they receive her love, they will be freed from what remains of the śāpa and will rise to svarga.”

Bali agreed with joy. Kṛshṇa and Balarāma took the six and went back to Dvārakā. They laid the six in the arms of Devakī. The moment she saw them, milk flowed from her breasts of itself, from the strength of a mother’s love. She held them on her lap and kissed their foreheads again and again.

As Devakī nursed each of them, her milk, made rich by years of nearness to the divine body of Kṛshṇa, carried his grace. By its touch, svarūpa-jñāna (knowledge of one’s own true nature) rose in each of the six. They saw their own divine nature directly.

The six sons bowed to Kṛshṇa, Balarāma, Devakī and Vasudeva. Then, before the eyes of everyone there, they rose to devaloka. Devakī watched in wonder. She felt that all of it, from the beginning, had been the māyā of Kṛshṇa, a loving play of grace and reunion.

Sources

• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skanda, Chapter 85