A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.2014

c5.2014

VASU-DEVA. Son of Sura, of the Yādava branch of the Lunar race. He was father of Krishna, and Kuntī, the mother of the Pāndava princes, was his sister. He married seven daughters of Āhuka, and the youngest of them, Devakī, was the mother of Krishna. After the death of Krishna and Balarāma he also died, and four of his wives burnt themselves with his corpse. So says the Mahā-bhārata, but according to the Vishnu Purāna he and Devakī and Rohinī burnt themselves at Dwārakā. He received the additional name of Ānaka-dundubhi, because the gods, conscious that he was to be the putative father of the divine Krishna, sounded the drums of heaven at his birth. He was also called Bhū-kasyapa and Dundu, ‘drum.’