Bhadra () is one of the '' Ashtabharya'', the eight principal queen-consorts of

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

god Krishna, according to the scripture ''

Bhagavata Purana The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in Sa ...

.'' The ''Bhagavata Purana'' regards her as being the eighth wife of Krishna; sometimes she is described as the seventh wife. The '' Vishnu Purana'' and the ''

Harivamsa The ''Harivamsa'' ( , literally "the genealogy of Hari") is an important work of Sanskrit literature, containing 16,374 shlokas, mostly in the '' anustubh'' metre. The text is also known as the ''Harivamsa Purana.'' This text is believed to ...

'' do not name Bhadra at all in the list of the Ashtabharya, but refer to her as 'the daughter of Dhrishtaketu' or 'the princess of Kekeya'.

Legend

The ''Bhagavata Purana'' gives her the epithet Kaikeyi, the princess of the Kaikeya kingdom. She was the daughter of King Dhrishtaketu and his wife Shrutakirti, the sister of

Kunti Kunti ( sa, कुन्ती, ), named at birth as Pritha ( sa, पृथा, ), is one of the prominent characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. She is best known as the mother of the Pandavas and Karna, the main protagonists of the epi ...

and the sister (or cousin) of Vasudeva (Krishna's father) and thus Krishna's cousin. Bhadra's five brothers headed by the eldest prince Santardana married Bhadra to Krishna. In another text, she is described to have chosen Krishna as her husband in a ''

Svayamvara Svayamvara ( sa, स्वयंवर, svayaṃvara, translit-std=IAST), in ancient India, was a method of marriage in which a woman chose a man as her husband from a group of suitors. In this context, in Sanskrit means 'self' and means 'g ...

'' ceremony, in which a bride chooses a groom from assembled suitors. Krishna and his queens once visited

Hastinapura Hastinapur is a city in the Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ''Hastinapura'', described in Hindu texts such as the ''Mahabharata'' and the Puranas as the capital of the Kuru Kingdom, is also mentioned in ancient Jain tex ...

to meets Kunti, her sons the Pandavas and Pandavas's common wife

Draupadi Draupadi ( sa, द्रौपदी, draupadī, Daughter of Drupada), also referred to as Krishnaa, Panchali, and Yagyaseni, is the main female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata,'' and the common consort of the five Pandava brothers ...

. As directed by Kunti, Draupadi worships and honours Bhadra and other queens with gifts. Bhadra also narrates to Draupadi how she married Krishna. According to the ''Bhagavata Purana'', Bhadra had ten sons, namely Sangramajit, Brihatsena, Shura, Praharana, Arijit, Jaya, Subhadra, Vama, Ayur, and Satyaka. The '' Mausala Parva'' of the Hindu epic '' Mahabharata'' which describes the death of Krishna and end of his race and the ''Bhagavata Purana'' records the wailing of Bhadra and other seven chief queens and her subsequent leap in Krishna's funeral pyre immolating themselves (see '' sati''). While ''Bhagavata Purana'' says all queens committed sati, the ''Mahabharata'' mentions only four, including Bhadra.

In popular culture

A book titled ''Bhadra Kalyanam'' (meaning: a marriage of Bhadra) was written in Telugu language by Dr.K.V.KrishnaKumari. She dedicated this book to Satya Sai Baba on his 80th birthday. In this book, she describes Bhadra as Mahalakshmi (wife of Vishnu) and her marriage with Krishna, as his seventh wife, as "the confluence of beauty, devotion and love”.

References

{{Reflist Consorts of Krishna Characters in the Bhagavata Purana