Yashoda

Yashoda (यशोदा) is the foster-mother of Krishna and the wife of Nanda. She is described in the Puranic texts of Hinduism as the wife of Nanda, the chieftain of Gokulam, and the sister of Rohini. According to the Bhagavata Purana, Krishna was born to Devaki, but Krishna's father, Vasudeva, brought the newborn Krishna to his cousin Nanda, and his wife, Yashoda, in Gokulam. This was for his upbringing, as well as to protect Krishna from Devaki's brother, Kamsa, the tyrannical king of Mathura. The name Yashoda means 'one who is giver (da, दा) of fame or glory (Yash, यश)'. According to the Bhagavata Purana, Yashoda was the incarnation of Dhara, the wife of the vasu, Drona. Little is known about Yashoda's early life, other than her marriage with Nanda. Yashoda's father, Sumukha, was the treasurer and a wealthy trader of Vraja. He is mentioned to have had a very long beard as fair as the white conchshell, and his skin complexion was as dark as the ripe Indian blackberry. He had an elder sister named Vikshanashobhini (IAST : Vīkṣaṇaśobhini) who was married to a wealthy family of Gomatiksetra. Sumukha also had a younger brother named Charumukha (IAST : Cārumukha) who had a wife named Bālagopikā in Vrindavana. Yashoda's mother, Pataladevi, (IAST : Pāṭaḷādevī) was from a wealthy and respected mercantile family of seafaring traders from the ancient city of Patala, located at the mouth of Indus river in the Sindhu kingdom. Her skin is said to be as soft as the rose petals, known as Pāṭaḷa in Sanskrit. Her family was an ardent devotee of Vishnu and used to worship him before seafaring. Kamsa, the ruler of Mathura, had decided to kill Krishna as soon as he was born. In order to protect Krishna from Kamsa, Krishna and Yogamaya were born at the same time from the wombs of Devaki and Yashoda, respectively, and were exchanged by Vasudeva Anakadundubhi. Krishna survived and was raised as the foster-son of Yashoda. Various childhood episodes or lilas, growing up in Yashoda's household, abound in Hindu texts.