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{{Short description|Eighth queen consort of Hindu god Krishna}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Hindu
| image = Mysore painting.jpg
| caption = Bhadra and the other Ashtabharya of Krishna, Mysore painting.
| spouse = [[Krishna]]
| abode = [[Dvaraka]]
| texts = [[Bhagavata Purana]], [[Mahabharata]]
| parents = Dhrishtaketu (Father)
Shrutakirti (Mother)
| dynasty = [[Yadu|Yaduvamsha]] (by marriage)
| member_of = [[Ashtabharya]]
| children = Sangramajit, Brihatsena, Shura, Praharana, Arijit, Jaya, Subhadra, Vama, Ayur, and Satyaka (sons)
| affiliation = [[Devi]], [[Ashtabharya]], [[Lakshmi]]
}}

{{use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{use Indian English|date=April 2017}}

'''Bhadra''' ({{Langx|sa|भद्र|lit=fortunate|translit=Bhadra}})<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2009-04-11 |title=Bhadra, Bhadrā, Bhādra: 51 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/bhadra |access-date=2022-11-13 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref> is one of the ''[[Ashtabharya]]'',<ref>{{cite book | last = Mani | first = Vettam | title = Puranic Encyclopaedia: a Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature | url = https://archive.org/details/puranicencyclopa00maniuoft | publisher = Motilal Banarsidass Publishers | year = 1975  | isbn = 978-0-8426-0822-0 | author-link = Vettam Mani|page = [https://archive.org/details/puranicencyclopa00maniuoft/page/62 62]}}</ref> the eight principal queen-consorts of [[Hinduism|Hindu]] god [[Krishna]], according to the scripture ''[[Bhagavata Purana]].'' The ''Bhagavata Purana'' regards her as being the eighth wife of Krishna; sometimes she is described as the seventh wife. The ''[[Vishnu Purana]]'' and the ''[[Harivamsa]]'' do not name Bhadra at all in the list of the Ashtabharya, but refer to her as 'the daughter of Dhrishtaketu' or 'the princess of Kekeya'.<ref name="Wilson1870">{{cite book|author=Horace Hayman Wilson|title=The Vishńu Puráńa: a system of Hindu mythology and tradition|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RO8oAAAAYAAJ|accessdate=20 February 2013|year=1870|publisher=Trübner|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RO8oAAAAYAAJ/page/n85 82]–3}}</ref>

==Legend==
The ''Bhagavata Purana'' gives her the epithet Kaikeyi, the princess of the [[Kaikeya]] kingdom. She was the daughter of King Dhrishtaketu and his wife Shrutakirti, the sister of [[Kunti]] and the sister (or cousin) of [[Vasudeva]] (Krishna's father) and thus Krishna's cousin. Bhadra's five brothers headed by the eldest prince Santardana married Bhadra to Krishna.<ref name="chap10">{{cite web|url=http://vedabase.net/sb/10/58/56/en|title=Bhagavata Purana 10.58.56|author=Prabhupada|author-link=Prabhupada|publisher=[[Bhaktivedanta Book Trust]]|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017204511/http://vedabase.net/sb/10/58/56/en|archivedate=17 October 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://vedabase.net/sb/9/24/38/en|title=Bhagavata Purana 9.24.38|author=Prabhupada|author-link=Prabhupada|publisher=[[Bhaktivedanta Book Trust]]|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090918205825/http://vedabase.net/sb/9/24/38/en|archivedate=18 September 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In another text, she is described to have chosen Krishna as her husband in a ''[[Swayamvara|Svayamvara]]'' ceremony, in which a bride chooses a groom from assembled suitors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/45238|title=The Ashta-Bharyas|last=Aparna Chatterjee|date=December 10, 2007|work=[[American Chronicle]]|accessdate=21 April 2010|archive-date=6 December 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121206024252/http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/45238|url-status=dead}}</ref> Krishna and his queens once visited [[Hastinapur|Hastinapura]] to meets Kunti, her sons the [[Pandavas]] and Pandavas's common wife [[Draupadi]]. As directed by Kunti, Draupadi worships and honours Bhadra and other queens with gifts. Bhadra also narrates to Draupadi how she married Krishna.<ref name="Dikshitar1995">{{cite book|author=V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar|title=The Purana Index|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z7bFwZhfSOsC&pg=PA534|accessdate=21 February 2013|year=1995|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1273-4|pages=534}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://vedabase.net/sb/10/71/41-42/en |title=Bhagavata Purana 10.71.41-42 |author=Prabhupada |author-link=Prabhupada |publisher=[[Bhaktivedanta Book Trust]] |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060911081829/http://vedabase.net/sb/10/71/41-42/en |archivedate=2006-09-11 }}</ref>

According to the ''Bhagavata Purana'', Bhadra had ten sons, namely Sangramajit, Brihatsena, Shura, Praharana, Arijit, Jaya, Subhadra, Vama, Ayur, and Satyaka.<ref name=Genealogy>{{Cite web|url=http://krsnabook.com/ch61.html|title=The Genealogical Table of the Family of Krishna|accessdate=5 February 2013|publisher= Krsnabook.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://vedabase.net/sb/10/61/17/en|title=Bhagavata Purana 10.61.17|author=Prabhupada|author-link=Prabhupada|publisher=[[Bhaktivedanta Book Trust]]|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101021034037/http://vedabase.net/sb/10/61/17/en|archivedate=21 October 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The ''[[Mausala Parva]]'' of the Hindu epic ''[[Mahabharata]]'' which describes the death of Krishna and end of his race and the ''Bhagavata Purana'' records the wailing of Bhadra and other seven chief queens and her subsequent leap in Krishna's funeral pyre immolating themselves (see ''[[Sati (practice)|sati]]''). While ''Bhagavata Purana'' says all queens committed [[Sati (practice)|sati]], the ''Mahabharata'' mentions only four, including Bhadra.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m16/m16007.htm|title=Mahabharata|accessdate=18 March 2013|publisher=Sacred-texts.com|author=Kisari Mohan Ganguli|author-link=Kisari Mohan Ganguli}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://vedabase.net/sb/11/31/20/en|title=Bhagavata Purana 11.31.20|author=Prabhupada|author-link=Prabhupada|publisher=[[Bhaktivedanta Book Trust]]|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613194505/http://vedabase.net/sb/11/31/20/en|archivedate=13 June 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
A book titled ''Bhadra Kalyanam'' (meaning: a marriage of Bhadra) was written in [[Telugu language]] by Dr.K.V.KrishnaKumari. She dedicated this book to [[Satya Sai Baba]] on his 80th birthday. In this book, she describes Bhadra as [[Mahalakshmi]] (wife of Vishnu) and her marriage with Krishna, as his seventh wife, as "the confluence of beauty, devotion and love”.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/BhadraKalyanamByDr.K.V.KrishnaKumari-ReadingByProf.V.Viswanadham_651|title= Bhadra Kalyanam by Dr. K. V. Krishna Kumari| accessdate=9 February 2013|publisher=Archive. org}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Consorts of Krishna]]
[[Category:Characters in the Bhagavata Purana]]

Bhadra (Krishna's wife) - Revision history

Svetlanacnc: created new pg w/ sources