Shloka 5
देवकी-विवाहः, आकाशवाणी, भूरभारावतरण-याचना, क्षीराब्धि-स्तुति, केशावतार-नियोजनम्
देवकस्य सुतां पूर्वं वसुदेवो महामुने उपयेमे महाभागां देवकीं देवतोपमाम्
devakasya sutāṃ pūrvaṃ vasudevo mahāmune upayeme mahābhāgāṃ devakīṃ devatopamām
O great sage, Vasudeva first took in marriage Devaka’s daughter—Devakī, most fortunate and radiant like a goddess—thus beginning the sacred line through which the Lord would later reveal His divine play.
Sage Parāśara (to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Beginning the detailed Kṛṣṇa narrative by stating the key familial relationship: Vasudeva’s marriage to Devakī.
Teaching: Historical
Quality: authoritative, narrative-opening
Avatara: Krishna
Purpose: The marriage of Vasudeva and Devakī establishes the immediate human setting for Viṣṇu’s descent as Kṛṣṇa to relieve the earth’s burden and protect dharma.
Leela: Bala
Dharma Restored: Safeguarding the divine birth-line and enabling the avatāra’s advent for world-protection.
Vamsha: Chandra
Dharma Exemplar: pativratā-śīla (ideal marital fidelity and auspiciousness)
Key Kings: Vasudeva, Devakī, Devaka
Vishnu Form: Krishna
Bhakti Type: vatsalya
Vyuha Form: Vasudeva
FAQs
It establishes the immediate familial setting for Krishna’s appearance, presenting the union as divinely auspicious and central to the avatara narrative.
By narrating key genealogical and relational milestones—such as this marriage—Parāśara frames later events as orderly steps within a providential, dharma-governed history.
Even before Vishnu’s explicit descent is described, the text signals His sovereignty by portraying history and lineage as instruments through which the Supreme Reality manifests for cosmic protection.