Q66. Why did Krishna have so many wives?

Lord Krishna was God, but He was playing the role of a Prince and in ancient times all over the world, it was normal for the Kings and Princes to have many wives, this is even true today in some parts of the world. As a Prince, He had 8 wives and on one occasion there were 16,100 girls who got kidnapped by some demonic person. Lord Krishna got these girls released and then asked the girls to go back to their homes, but the girls were too afraid to go back home. According to Vedic culture, a girl must stay with the father until married and

then stay with the husband after marriage. If an unmarried girl spends one single night away from her father’s home without him, then the father has the right to assume she has become a prostitute and reject her. If a married woman spends one single night away from her husband’s home without him, then the husband has the right to assume she has become a prostitute and reject her. This is Vedic culture, which is very strict to protect women from becoming degraded. The 16,100 girls didn’t want to go back home, because their fathers would reject them for the reasons just explained. Krishna also knew that they could not go back home, as He is the creator of the Vedic culture. Krishna asked the girls what they wanted to do. The 16,100 girls asked Lord Krishna to marry them and how can Lord Krishna refuse, as He is God, the one who takes care of His followers. If Lord Krishna had said no, then the lives of these girls would have been completely ruined. This is how Lord Krishna had 16,108 wives. These days, the fathers are very proudly sending their unmarried daughters far away from home to work or study, and most of them become degraded by having sex outside marriage (boyfriends). These girls would be the rejects of society in the ancient world but now days, the fathers are very proud of these degraded daughters. At the end of life, all our degrees and wealth are completely useless, because we cannot take them with us. A sinless life means the soul is not degraded and after this life, the soul moves up to a higher species with higher consciousness and not down into the animal and plant kingdoms. There are 400,000 species of human beings with varying consciousness, and 8 million species of animals and plants. (8.4 million species of living beings – Padma Purana) Take your pick. Is it by chance that some souls are born in the desert of Sudan where it’s hot, violent, severe poverty, some are born as animals in the Middle East where the animals have their throat slit in the name of religion, some are born as pigs who eat anything, and some are born to middle class family of Bhagavad-Gita followers who at least try to live a sinless life and fully know God. To know God means to know His name, address, description, history dating back to millions of years, how He maintains and creates millions of universes, how He witnesses all our actions, His scheduled appearances and when exactly He will appear next, and so on. “By pure devotional service unto Me [Krishna], one can know Me as the Supreme person in truth, and thereafter one can enter into My kingdom." (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita 18.55) The result of living a sinless life and knowing God is that this will be the last miserable material life. At death, the soul will be immediately transferred to the spiritual manifestation where everyone lives in the same body that is completely beautiful, eternal, and with no trace of misery. Which would a father prefer for their daughters? A daughter who has become a firstclass doctor after she is sent away from home to study, but she becomes degraded by partying leading to having sexual relationships without marriage, alcohol, loss of interest in spirituality, and meat eating. Then at death due to her degradation, she moves down to lower species. Or a daughter who becomes a clerk after studying at a local to home institution and she becomes inclined to spirituality. At death she (the soul) is immediately transferred to the spiritual manifestation where she lives eternally in the same body in complete bliss with no misery.