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Why Krishna Had 16008 Wives
Why Krishna Had 16008 Wives
Shocked to read the figure? But yes, scriptures do mention that Lord
Krishna had 16,000 wives. To be specific, He had 16,008 wives. Now,
though we all know that polygamy was a popular practice in ancient times,
yet 16,008 seems like going out of the way. There are many such stories in
Indian mythology that are simply intriguing. Lord Krishna, known for His
many miracles, never fails to intrigue us with some of the most spectacular
stories. His eternal love with Radha, his marriage to eight most beautiful
princesses and yet having 16,000 and plus wives, certainly make us wonder
as what would have been the reason for this. If we go by the scriptures, we
will find that Lord Krishna never married Radha. But He did marry eight
women. The names of all His eight wives were Rukmini, Satyabhama,
Jambavati, Kalindi, Mitravinda, Nagnajiti, Bhadra and Lakshmana. Of them,
Rukmini and Satyabhama were the most well-known.
Now moving on to the story of 16,000 wives, all of us know very well that
Lord Krishna was a miracle king. Whatever happened related to Him,
happened for a reason. Therefore, it would not be wrong to say that having
16,008 wives was also part of ‘Krishna leela’. So, what led to the
circumstances where Lord Krishna had to marry 16,000 women? Let us find
out.
The 16,008 women in Narakasura’s cell would also have suffered the same.
Hence, they prayed to Lord Krishna to accept all of them as His wives. The
16,108 wives Lord Krishna thus, married all of them. The Bhagavata Purana
captures the life of Krishna’s wives after their marriage. Each of the junior
wives was given a home, with hundreds of maid-servants. Krishna divides
himself into several forms, one for each wife and spends the night with
each wife simultaneously. In the morning, all his forms unite into one body
of Krishna when He works as the king of Dwarka. Each wife serves Krishna
personally, worshipping him, bathing him, dressing him, fanning him,
presenting him with gifts and flower garlands. The Miracle King.