Parvati's extraordinary boon¹²

Lord Sri Krishna had eight wives, officially. On the Pandavas’ side, Bhima was of the same age as Sri Krishna, so he used to make fun of Sri Krishna. In front of Arjuna and his other brothers, Bhima used to tell Sri Krishna, “Eight! We cannot manage with one wife. How do you manage with eight wives?”

Krishna used to laugh at Bhima’s comments.

This story is not about Sri Krishna’s wives; it is about his children. By Rukmini, his first wife, Krishna had a son whom he named Pradyumna. Pradyumna was most handsome, most powerful and most courageous. In every way, he was a most exemplary son. Everybody loved him and adored him.

Now, Sri Krishna’s second wife was Satyabhama. When she saw that everybody was showering Pradyumna with love and affection, she became jealous and insecure. She said to Sri Krishna, “I need a son like him! I must have a son like Rukmini’s son.”

Poor Sri Krishna said, “What can I do?” He started praying for Satyabhama to have a son, but his prayer was not working. Nothing was happening, so Sri Krishna went to a spiritual Master to seek his blessings and advice. The spiritual Master said, “Oh, no. I cannot do these things. You have to go to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva can help you.”

Sri Krishna began praying and praying and praying to Lord Shiva. Usually Lord Shiva does not take a long time to answer prayers but, in this case, he was taking a very long time. Finally, after many years, Lord Shiva appeared before Sri Krishna with Parvati. Lord Shiva asked Sri Krishna, “Why do you have to pray to me? Of all people, you have to pray?”

Sri Krishna replied, “Yes, I have to pray to you. My Guru has told me that I shall have to pray to you; then you will grant me the boon.”

“What boon do you want?” asked Lord Shiva.

Sri Krishna answered, “My wife, Satyabhama, wants to have a child exactly like Pradyumna, who is my first child by Rukmini. Now what can I do, what can I do? Satyabhama is getting upset.”

“You had to pray for so many years?” asked Lord Shiva. Then he continued, “All right, now I will grant you the boon. A son of the same capacity in every way I will grant you.”

Then Parvati spoke. “Oh, no, that is not enough!” she said. “I am giving the boon that you will have ten thousand, one hundred and eight children.” Can you imagine! Parvatis boon was ten thousand, one hundred and eight children!

Lord Shiva was so shocked. “What? What? What kind of boon is this?”

Sri Krishna said, “No, I will be able to manage.”

Then Lord Shiva started criticising Sri Krishna. “You cannot manage anything! You cannot take care of yourself properly, but you will be able to manage so many children?” Lord Shiva turned to Parvati and said, “How will his family take proper care of so many children? Will they accept him with ten thousand, one hundred and eight children?”

Parvati assured Lord Shiva, “No, I am telling you, everything will be perfect. Balarama, Krishna’s brother, will be the main one to look after all these children. Balarama loves Sri Krishna so much. He will not mind. He will be so fond of Sri Krishna’s ten thousand, one hundred and eight children.”

This was Parvati’s boon. I read it in a book. Then I read it again to see if the figure was correct! Lord Shiva gave one boon: that Sri Krishna would have a son exactly like Pradyumna in every way. But Parvati was not satisfied. She said, “No, you will be able to handle ten thousand, one hundred and eight children.” Parvati did not mean that Satyabhama would be the mother of all of them.

Parvati knew that Balarama’s love for his brother was such that he would accept anything Sri Krishna did. Sometimes, in the beginning, he became upset, but then he accepted it. Balarama was so kind-hearted!