tam abhyaṣiñcan vidhi-vad
aktam abhyaktam ṛtvijaḥ
patnÄ«bhir aá¹£á¹Ä-daÅ›abhiḥ
soma-rÄjam ivoá¸ubhiḥ
tam - him; abhyaá¹£iñcan - they sprinkled with sacred water; vidhivat - according to scriptural rules; aktam - his eyes decorated with mascara; abhyaktam - his body smeared with newly-churned butter; á¹›tvijaḥ - the priests; patnÄ«bhiḥ - along with his wives; aá¹£á¹Ä-daÅ›abhiḥ - eighteen; soma-rÄjam - the kingly; iva - as if; uá¸ubhiḥ - 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.
DevakÄ« was Vasudeva’s principal wife, but she had several co-wives, including her six sisters. This fact is recorded in the Ninth Canto of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam:
devakaÅ› cograsenaÅ› ca
catvÄro devakÄtmajÄḥ
devavÄn upadevaÅ› ca
sudevo devavardhanaḥ
teá¹£Äá¹ svasÄraḥ saptÄsan
dhá¹›tadevÄdayo ná¹›pa
Å›ÄntidevopadevÄ ca
Å›rÄ«devÄ devaraká¹£itÄ
sahadevÄ devakÄ« ca
vasudeva uvÄha tÄḥ
“Āhuka had two sons, named Devaka and Ugrasena. Devaka had four sons, named DevavÄn, Upadeva, Sudeva and Devavardhana, and he also had seven daughters, named ÅšÄntidevÄ, UpadevÄ, ÅšrÄ«devÄ, Devaraká¹£itÄ, SahadevÄ, DevakÄ« and Dhá¹›tadevÄ. Dhá¹›tadevÄ was the eldest. Vasudeva, the father of Kṛṣṇa, married all these sisters.†(BhÄg. 9.24.21-23)
Some of Vasudeva’s other wives are mentioned a few verses later:
pauravÄ« rohiṇī bhadrÄ
madirÄ rocanÄ ilÄ
devakÄ«-pramukhÄÅ› cÄsan
patnya Änakadundubheḥ
“DevakÄ«, PauravÄ«, Rohiṇī, BhadrÄ, MadirÄ, RocanÄ, IlÄ and others were all wives of Ä€nakadundubhi [Vasudeva]. Among them all, DevakÄ« was the chief.†(BhÄg. 9.24.45)
