Text 47
tam abhyaṣiñcan vidhi-vad
aktam abhyaktam ṛtvijaḥ
patnībhir aṣṭā-daśabhiḥ
soma-rājam ivoḍubhiḥ
tam — him; abhyaṣiñcan — they sprinkled with sacred water; vidhivat — according to scriptural rules; aktam — his eyes decorated with mascara; abhyaktam — his body smeared with newly churned butter; ṛtvijaḥ — the priests; patnībhiḥ — along with his wives; aṣṭā-daśabhiḥ — eighteen; soma-rājam — the kingly; iva — as if; uḍubhiḥ — with stars.
After Vasudeva’s eyes had been decorated with black cosmetic and his body smeared with fresh butter, the priests initiated him according to scriptural rules by sprinkling him and his eighteen wives with sacred water. Encircled by his wives, he resembled the regal moon encircled by stars.
Devakī was Vasudeva’s principal wife, but she had several co-wives, including her six sisters. This fact is recorded in the Ninth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:
devakaś cograsenaś ca
catvāro devakātmajāḥ
devavān upadevaś ca
sudevo devavardhanaḥ
teṣāṁ svasāraḥ saptāsan
dhṛtadevādayo nṛpa
śāntidevopadevā ca
śrīdevā devarakṣitā
sahadevā devakī ca
vasudeva uvāha tāḥ
“Āhuka had two sons, named Devaka and Ugrasena. Devaka had four sons, named Devavān, Upadeva, Sudeva and Devavardhana, and he also had seven daughters, named Śāntidevā, Upadevā, Śrīdevā, Devarakṣitā, Sahadevā, Devakī and Dhṛtadevā. Dhṛtadevā was the eldest. Vasudeva, the father of Kṛṣṇa, married all these sisters.” (Bhāg. 9.24.21-23)
Some of Vasudeva’s other wives are mentioned a few verses later:
pauravī rohiṇī bhadrā
madirā rocanā ilā
devakī-pramukhāś cāsan
patnya ānakadundubheḥ
“Devakī, Pauravī, Rohiṇī, Bhadrā, Madirā, Rocanā, Ilā and others were all wives of Ānakadundubhi [Vasudeva]. Among them all, Devakī was the chief.” (Bhāg. 9.24.45)