Sri Krishna's Wives: The Eight Queens (Ashtabharya) and the 16,100, Explained

One of the most-asked questions about Lord Krishna is how many wives he had and the answer, from the scriptures, is remarkable: eight principal queens, the Ashtabharya and a further 16,100 women whom he rescued and married to restore their honour, 16,108 in all. Yet the deeper truth, dear to us in Braj, is that his eternal beloved, Radha, was never among his wedded queens at all. Here, from one born in Braj, is the full story of Sri Krishna's wives, their names and how Radha stands apart. Plan your visit with our Mathura Vrindavan tour packages.

Key takeaways

• Sri Krishna had eight principal queens, known as the Ashtabharya.

• They were Rukmini, Satyabhama, Jambavati, Kalindi, Mitravinda, Nagnajiti, Bhadra and Lakshmana.

• He also married 16,100 women rescued from the demon Narakasura, to restore their honour.

• In all, the scriptures speak of 16,108 wives of Krishna.

• Kalindi, one of the eight queens, is the personification of the Yamuna, Braj's own river.

• Radha, his eternal beloved of Vrindavan, was not a wedded wife but his supreme divine consort.

I am Gurudutt, born in Gokul in the Mathura district, guiding pilgrims through Braj since 2018, more than 50,000 of them. Visitors to Krishna's land often ask me about his wives and the answer is both a great story and a great teaching. Here I give you the scriptural account, the eight queens and the 16,100, with their names and stories and the important truth about Radha, told by one who lives in the land of their love.

The eight principal queens: the Ashtabharya

The scriptures name eight chief queens of Krishna at Dwarka, called the Ashtabharya, the 'eight wives'. Each was a princess or divine being and each has her own story. Here they are.

The eight principal queens of Krishna, the Ashtabharya, as named in the scriptures.

Kalindi: the Yamuna herself, one of Krishna's queens

For us in Braj, one of the eight queens is especially dear: Kalindi, who is none other than the personification of the Yamuna, the sacred river of Krishna's own land. 'Kalindi' is another name for the Yamuna, which flows through Mathura and Vrindavan. So the very river on whose banks Krishna played as a child and where the evening Yamuna aarti at Kesi Ghat is offered today, is honoured in the scriptures as one of his eight queens. To bow to the Yamuna in Braj is thus to honour Kalindi, the Lord's own consort.

The 16,100 rescued wives and the story of Narakasura

The far greater number of Krishna's wives, the 16,100, comes from a story of rescue and compassion. The demon Narakasura had captured sixteen thousand one hundred women and held them prisoner in his palace. Krishna defeated and slew Narakasura and freed all the captive women. But the society of the time refused to accept them back into their homes, for they had lived in a demon's palace and so they faced a life of shame and abandonment. To restore their honour, their dignity and their protection, Krishna married all of them at once, giving them the status and safety of queens. It is one of the most beautiful acts of the Lord's compassion, the marriage not of desire but of mercy, to shelter the abandoned and give the honourless honour. This victory over Narakasura is remembered, in many regions, at the festival of Naraka Chaturdashi, on the eve of Diwali.

How many wives did Krishna have in all?

Putting the two together gives the famous number:

The number of Krishna's wives, as given in the scriptures: 16,108 in all.

But what about Radha? Why she was not a wife

Here is the truth that surprises many and that we hold most dear in Braj: Radha, Krishna's most beloved of all, was never one of his wedded wives. Radha is his eternal divine beloved, the supreme devotee and the very soul of his love, worshipped in Braj even before Krishna himself. Their love, played out in the groves of Vrindavan, is not the love of marriage but a higher, eternal, spiritual union, the love of the soul for God, which is why it is the model of pure devotion for all. Krishna left Braj as a youth and married his queens at Dwarka; but his heart and the heart of Braj, remained forever with Radha. So in Braj we do not speak of Radha as a wife, but as something greater, the eternal consort of the Lord, whose name we chant before him: 'Radhe Radhe'. To understand this is to understand the very heart of Braj.

Krishna's queens at Dwarka and Radha's land of Braj

The two loves belong to two lands. Krishna's married life with his queens belonged to Dwarka, his kingdom by the western sea, where he reigned as a king. But his childhood and his eternal love belonged to Braj, the land of Mathura, Vrindavan, Gokul and Barsana, where he played as a child and loved Radha. Pilgrims come to Braj not for the king of Dwarka but for the cowherd boy of Vrindavan and his beloved Radha. In Braj you walk the land of that eternal love, at the Banke Bihari temple, the historic Radha Raman temple and Radha's own village of Barsana, with its hilltop Radha Rani temple.

The honest bit

Honest words from one born in Braj. This account of Krishna's wives, the eight queens and the 16,100, comes from the scriptures, the Bhagavata Purana and others and there are minor variations in the names and stories between texts (Nagnajiti is also called Satya and so on), so do not be troubled if another telling differs a little. The great point is not the number but the meaning: the eight queens show Krishna as king and householder and the 16,100 show his boundless compassion for the abandoned. And Radha, above them all, shows the highest love of all, the love of the soul for God, which needs no marriage to be eternal. In Braj, it is Radha and the cowherd Krishna we adore, not the number of his queens; come here and you will feel why.

Why Experience My India is the right choice

I was born in Gokul in the Mathura district, in the very land of Krishna's childhood and his love for Radha. Guiding since 2018, more than 50,000 pilgrims, 4.5 stars on Google, WhatsApp first, 8 AM to 9 PM daily. We take you through the land of Radha and Krishna, tell you the stories on the ground, from the Yamuna (Kalindi) to Radha's Barsana, walk you into the temples cars cannot reach and share the deeper meaning behind the tales, with no touts. One clear fare and never a charge for free darshan.

Tip from Gurudutt: when you visit Braj, remember that you have come not to the Dwarka of the king and his queens, but to the Vrindavan of the child and his beloved. The stories of Krishna's wives are grand and moving, above all the mercy of the 16,100, but the treasure of Braj is subtler and sweeter: the eternal love of Radha and Krishna, which no marriage could contain and no time can end. Chant 'Radhe Radhe' as you walk this land and you will understand why, of all his loves, it is Radha whom Braj holds first.

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