Revatī

Revatī was the daughter of King Kakudmi and became the wife of Balarāma. Her story contains one of the Purāṇas’ most striking accounts of how time runs differently in different worlds. Her father took her to Brahmaloka to ask Brahmā for advice on a fitting husband. During the short time they spent there, the length of a divine musical performance, twenty-seven yugas passed on earth. Brahmā told Kakudmi to give Revatī to Balarāma, the avatāra of Śeṣa, as the only worthy man still alive. So Revatī came to her husband across the boundary of ages.

The journey to Brahmaloka

The Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 105, tells the story this way. King Kakudmi ruled Saurāṣṭra. He had a daughter named Revatī, of great beauty and virtue. He wished to find the most worthy husband for her, so he went with her to Brahmaloka to ask Brahmā himself. They arrived while a musical performance was being held in Brahmā’s court, and they waited.

When the performance ended and they could speak to Brahmā, Kakudmi began to list the great kings he had thought of as husbands for Revatī. Brahmā listened and then said gently: “O King, while you have been here listening to this music, twenty-seven yugas (mahāyugas) have passed on earth. All the kings you named, and all their descendants to the hundredth generation, are long dead. The world has moved on beyond measure.”

Kakudmi was stunned. Brahmā went on: “But do not grieve. Go back to earth. There you will find Balarāma, the avatāra of the great Śeṣa himself, the support of all worlds. He is alive and present. Give Revatī to him. There is no one more worthy.”

Marriage to Balarāma

Kakudmi came back to earth with Revatī and went to Mathurā. He offered his daughter to Balarāma with a generous dowry. Balarāma, who is Śeṣa and bears the weight of all worlds, accepted Revatī with perfect grace. Their marriage was performed with Vedic rites.

The account shows that time runs differently in different realms (kāla-māna-bheda). It also shows that divine beings such as Balarāma live outside the ordinary flow of time that destroys ordinary kings and dynasties.

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa tells this in Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 105.

The Bhāgavata account

The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 9th Skanda, Chapter 3, places Revatī’s story in the line of Śaryāti, one of the ten sons of Vaivasvata Manu. Śaryāti had a son named Ānarta. Ānarta had a son named Revata. King Revata built the famous city of Kuśasthalī in the ocean and made it his capital. From there he ruled Ānarta and other lands. Revata had one hundred noble sons. The eldest was Kakudmi, also called Raivata Kakudmi.

Kakudmi wished to find a husband worthy of his daughter Revatī, who surpassed all women of her age in beauty and virtue. He took her to Brahmaloka to ask Brahmā directly. When they arrived, a divine musical performance was going on in Brahmā’s court, and they waited respectfully for it to end. When the music stopped, Kakudmi put his question to Brahmā and gave the names of the kings he had thought of for his daughter.

Brahmā laughed gently and said: “O King, all the men you have named, their sons, their grandsons and their great-grandsons have been consumed by kāla (time). Twenty-seven mahāyugas have passed on earth while you have been here. Go back. The mighty Baladeva has now appeared on earth. He is the bhārabhūta (the bearer of the world’s weight), the aṃśa-avatāra of Nārāyaṇa himself. He is the most worthy of men. Give Revatī to him.”

Brahmā added that Bhagavān Śrī Hari has come down to remove the burden of the earth through his own aṃśa (part). He said that those who hear and sing of his līlās (divine acts) are made pure. Kakudmi bowed to Brahmā and returned to earth with Revatī. He found his city Kuśasthalī changed. While he was away, his brothers had been frightened by the yakṣas and had scattered in all directions.

Kakudmi went to where Balarāma was and offered his daughter in marriage. Balarāma accepted Revatī. When the marriage was complete, Kakudmi had done his duty. He then went to the Badrikāvana āśrama of Nara-Nārāyaṇa to practise tapas.

The Viṣṇu Purāṇa account: sons Niśita and Ulkuka

The Viṣṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Pañcamāṃśa, Chapter 25, names Revatī as the daughter of Raivatarāja, the Raivata king. It gives the names of her children by Balarāma: Niśita and Ulkuka. These two sons carry the line of Ādiśeṣa-Balarāma on earth.

The Viṣṇu Purāṇa also tells of Revatī at two scenes. In Chapter 36, at the time of the killing of Dvivida (the Dvivida-vadha), she is at the Raivataka hills, and so she is a witness to one of the great deeds of Balarāma. In Chapter 25, in the Vāruṇī scene, husband and wife celebrate together before the Yamunā episode.

Sources

• Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 105
• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 9th Skanda, Chapter 3
• Viṣṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Pañcamāṃśa, Chapters 25, 36