Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 10 - Chapter 1 - Verse 47

Sanskrit:

तमभ्यषिञ्चन् विधिवदक्तमभ्यक्तमृत्विज: ।पत्नीभिरष्टादशभि: सोमराजमिवोडुभि: ॥ ४७ ॥

ITRANS:

tam abhyaṣiñcan vidhi-vadaktam abhyaktam ṛtvijaḥpatnībhir aṣṭā-daśabhiḥsoma-rājam ivoḍubhiḥ

Translation:

After Vasudeva’s eyes had been decorated with black cosmetic and his body smeared with fresh butter, the priests initiated him according to scriptural rules by sprinkling him and his eighteen wives with sacred water. Encircled by his wives, he resembled the regal moon encircled by stars.

Purport:

Devakī was Vasudeva’s principal wife, but she had several co-wives, including her six sisters. This fact is recorded in the Ninth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: “Āhuka had two sons, named Devaka and Ugrasena. Devaka had four sons, named Devavān, Upadeva, Sudeva and Devavardhana, and he also had seven daughters, named Śāntidevā, Upadevā, Śrīdevā, Devarakṣitā, Sahadevā, Devakī and Dhṛtadevā. Dhṛtadevā was the eldest. Vasudeva, the father of Kṛṣṇa, married all these sisters.” (Bhāg. 9.24.21-23) Some of Vasudeva’s other wives are mentioned a few verses later: “Devakī, Pauravī, Rohiṇī, Bhadrā, Madirā, Rocanā, Ilā and others were all wives of Ānakadundubhi [Vasudeva]. Among them all, Devakī was the chief.” (Bhāg. 9.24.45)