The Births of Lord Krishna and Balaram

Lord Krishna, the protagonist of the Mahabharat, was the eighth avatar of Vishnu and is worshipped by Hindus worldwide. Krishna's elder brother, Balaram, was an avatar of Shesh, the serpent on which Vishnu rests. Krishna and Balaram were the biological sons of Vasudev and Devaki. Devaki had a wicked cousin named Kams.

After usurping the throne from his father, Ugrasen, Kams ruled over Mathura. On the evening of Devaki’s wedding to Vasudev, she, Vasudev, and Kams were returning home in a chariot. Suddenly, a voice from the sky proclaimed, "O foolish Kams, the eighth son of Devaki and Vasudev will kill you."

Kams wanted to murder Devaki right there, but her husband, Vasudev, promised to surrender all their children to Kams as soon as they were born. Kams imprisoned Vasudev and Devaki and killed their first six children shortly after birth.

Devaki prayed for the survival of their seventh child. Before the child was born, the goddess Yogmaya transferred it from Devaki’s womb to the womb of Rohini, Vasudev's first wife. The seventh child of Vasudev and Devaki was thus born to Rohini and was named Balaram.

The eighth child born to Devaki and Vasudev in prison was Krishna, who survived and later killed Kams.