Vasudeva
Krishna's Father
The Yadava noble who carried newborn Krishna across the flooding Yamuna in a basket on his head — the most famous midnight walk in Hindu tradition.
- Sanskrit/Telugu name: వసుదేవుడు
- Also known as: Anakadundubhi, Shurasena's son
- Symbols: Basket on the head, Stormy river
Story
Vasudeva was a respected chief of the Yadava clan, and the heavens themselves announced his greatness — drums sounded in the sky at his birth, earning him the name Anakadundubhi. He married Devaki of Mathura, but their wedding day ended with a prophecy of doom and a prison cell, as King Kamsa vowed to kill their every child. On the stormy night Krishna was born, the impossible happened: chains fell open, guards slept, and prison doors swung wide. Vasudeva placed the newborn in a winnowing basket, balanced it on his head, and walked into the flooding Yamuna — the waters rose to his nose, but the river parted around baby Krishna's tiny foot, and the great serpent Adishesha spread his hoods overhead like an umbrella against the rain. This image — the father wading through the flood, the serpent-umbrella, the sleeping baby — is painted on temple walls and calendars all over India and in Telugu homes everywhere. In Gokula he swapped his son for Yashoda's newborn daughter (the goddess Yogamaya herself) and returned before the guards ever woke. Vasudeva was also father to Balarama and Subhadra through his wife Rohini, and years later he watched his children reshape the destiny of the whole world. Because he is Vasudeva's son, Krishna's most beloved name is Vaasudeva — the very name in the mantra "Om Namo Bhagavate Vaasudevaya."
Fun fact
One of the most chanted mantras in the world, "Om Namo Bhagavate Vaasudevaya," carries Vasudeva's name inside it — it means bowing to Krishna as Vasudeva's son.