Hare Krsna,
The personality of Subhadra devi is truly an enigma in the scriptures. Even though she is very well-known as the sister of Lord Jagannath and Lord Baladeva, not much is written or mentioned explicitly about her in the scriptures. Therefore, it is hard to reconcile various versions that exist about her.
SB 10.1.56: Each year thereafter, in due course of time, Devakī, the mother of God and all the demigods, gave birth to a child. Thus she bore eight sons, one after another, and a daughter named Subhadrā.
My research is based on the following premise. We know Subhadra as Krsna’s sister who is born simultaneously with Krsna in Gokula in the house of Nanda Maharaja. There is Krsna’s sister who marries Arjuna in Dvaraka. There is also Krsna’s sister who stands between Krsna and Balarama on the altar in Jagannatha Puri. Finally, there is Subhadra popularly known as yoga-maya. Are all these the same personality?
Question 1: Is Subhadra yoga-maya?
Subhadra is yoga-maya is mentioned at couple of places.
In SB 10.2 (Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Womb), there is the following conversation between the Personality of Godhead, Viśvātmā, the Supreme Soul of everyone and Yoga-maya:
SB 10.2.7-9: O My potency, who are worshipable for the entire world and whose nature is to bestow good fortune upon all living entities, go to Vraja, where there live many cowherd men and their wives. In that very beautiful land, where many cows reside, Rohiṇī, the wife of Vasudeva, is living at the home of Nanda Mahārāja. Other wives of Vasudeva are also living there incognito because of fear of Kaṁsa. Please go there. Within the womb of Devakī is My partial plenary expansion known as Saṅkarṣaṇa or Śeṣa. Without difficulty, transfer Him into the womb of Rohiṇī. O all-auspicious Yoga-māyā, I shall then appear with My full six opulences as the son of Devakī, and you will appear as the daughter of mother Yaśodā, the queen of Mahārāja Nanda.”
Srila Prabhupada writes in the purport: “By the blessings of Kṛṣṇa, Yoga-māyā became the daughter of mother Yaśodā, but by the supreme will she was not able to enjoy the parental love of her father and mother…By the blessings of Kṛṣṇa, Yoga-māyā was able to achieve the reputation of being the daughter of mother Yaśodā, who also became famous by the blessings of Kṛṣṇa. Yaśodā means “one who gives fame.”
At least this is confirmed that Subhadra devi is indeed Yoga-maya.
Question 2: If Subhadra is Yoga-maya, who is Maha-maya?
In one of the letters, Srila Prabhupada wrote: “Subhadra is yogamaya. The spiritual energy is called yogamaya. And she has 16 different expansions. Out of these 16 expansions, Subhadra is one. The mahamaya of the material energy is also expansion of the energy of yogamaya; and both yogamaya and mahamaya are equally important to Krishna as much as any government department is equally important for functioning of the government.” (Letter to Madhusudana – Montreal 29th July 1968)
Yoga-maya turns into Maha-maya is confirmed in the following commentary by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura in his Sarartha-Darsini commentary on SB 10.2.10:
“Your aàça, material mäyä, will be taken by Vasudeva to cheat Kaàsa. You will be worshiped in various forms in Vindhyäcala and other places. All men will worship these forms because you are the supreme (varam) goddess (éçvarém) of those who have all types of material desires.”
When Subhadra reaches Mathura and lands up in Kamsa’s hands, she turns into Maha-maya.
Question 3: Is Subhadra the daughter of Yasoda and Nanda, or Devaki and Vasudeva?
Both Srila Prabhupada and Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura confirm in their commentaries on SB 10.1.56 that Subhadra is the daughter of Yasoda and Nanda.
“kanyäà: daughter; Subhadrä is the daughter.” – Sarartha-Darsini SVT commentary on SB 10.1.56
It seems clear that the daughter born to Yasoda was indeed Yogamaya, but that the female child that Vasudeva took to the palace dungeon of Kamsa was Mahamaya, the external potency of Krsna.
Now here is a contradiction. There are other places where Subhadra is considered to be born of Vasudeva and Rohini.
Hari-vamsa says as follows: Vasudeva begot his eldest son Rama (Balarama) in Rohini; and their other sons are: Sarana, Satha, Durdama, Damana, Svabhra, Pindaraka, and Usinara; O descendant of Kuru, they also had a daughter by the name of Citra, who is renowned by the name of Subhadra. (1.35.5-6)
Mahabharata says as follows: This is my sister, O Partha, and born of the same mother as Sarana (this refers to Rohini, the mother of Sarana). May you be blessed. She is the favorite daughter of my father. (Adi-parva 221.17)
Hari-vamsa mentions Krsna’s sister as being Subhadra and Mahabharata mentions Krsna’s sister as being born of Rohini. Both these references are to Krsna’s sister born in Mathura to Vasudeva and Rohini who later married Arjuna in Dvaraka, not to the twin of Krsna born to Yasoda and later taken to the dungeon of Kamsa.
Therefore it is unclear whose daughter is Subhadra.
Question 4: What’s the final conclusion on Subhadra?
From previous acaryas we have quotes regarding Subhadra, some stating that she is Yogamaya, some that she is Mahamaya and some that she is bhakti-svarupa. The exercise is in how to harmonize the statements of different acaryas. Some quotes from A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada are as follows:
Subhadra is Yogamaya, The spiritual energy is called Yogamaya. And she had 16 different expansions. Out of these 16 expansions, Subhadra is one. The Mahamaya of the material energy is also expansion of the energy of Yogamaya; and both Yogamaya and Mahamaya are equally important to Krsna as much as any government department is equally important for functioning the government. (Letter to Madhusudana – Montreal 29th July 1968)
Regarding your question about Subhadra and Durga, they are not at all the same. Durga’s other name is Bhadra, not Subhadra, and Durga’s activities are within the material world. Subhadra does not work as Durga. Subhadra is internal energy, and Durga is external energy. As energy they have a relationship as much as we are energies of Krsna, but the energies are working in different capacities. (Letter to Hamsaduta – LA, 9th Feb.1969)
“Regarding your question, ‘Is Subhadra, Lord Krsna’s sister, the same as Durga or Maya?’ the answer is that originally Krsna’s energy is one; that is spiritual energy. But according to different functions, the Maya is represented differently. In the material world the energy is called Bhadra, and in the spiritual world the same Maya is called Subhadra. The only distinction is ‘su’ and without ‘su’. ‘Su’ means auspicious. So in the spiritual world the same Maya works auspiciously, and in the material world the same Maya works inauspiciously. (Letter to Upendra – LA, 5th July 1969)
In Sri Brhad Bhagavatamrta of Srila Sanatana Goswami, Gopīpāranadhana prabhu says that the daughter of Yasoda is Subhadra – this is not in Sanatan Goswami’s commentary. It should be Maya instead. Subhadra is the only daughter of Vasudeva and Rohini instead.
SBB 2.3.28: “Or if you want devotion to Visnu, still you should be kind and worship me, the giver of devotion, for I am His maid-servant, His sister, and the embodiment of His energy.”
Gopīpāranadhana prabhu: Pure devotees do not care for liberation, but still they respect Prakrti for other reasons. She is Lord Visnu’s humble servant and sister, born as Subhadra from the womb of Yasoda, and she helps Lord Visnu’s devotees make progress in devotional service. Although Maya is not identical with Lord Visnu’s internal energy, she is the expansion of that energy, embodied in the external elements. Thus she is non-different from the original energy, just as a person’s shadow is non-different from the person.
In 1872 Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote an essay for a newspaper in Cuttack, Orissa about the Deities of Jagannatha, Subhadra and Baladeva as they are manifest in the temple at Jagannatha Puri. The essay is titled, “The Temple of Jagannath at Puri”.
Link: https://www.bvmlu.org/SBTP/ttojap.html
He wrote: “We have several times entered the shrine of Jagannatha, and, approaching the sandal bolts, have observed in the middle room an elevated seat on which stand four different forms viz. Jagannatha, Balaram, Subhadra and Sudarsan. According to the Vedanta, God is without a second, but He has infinite energies and attributes which are not fully known to man. But then man perceives only three energies in God, because he has no other corresponding sides to understand the other powers. From one of the energies proceeds matter in all its different forms and properties and this energy is styled Maya Shakti of God. From the second energy proceeds all spiritual creation, in all its relations and phases. This power is entitled the Jiva Shakti of God. The third energy perceivable by man is the energy of Will, which is called Cit Shakti. God moving in creation is what is meant by this infinite energy.
Jagannatha is the emblem of God having no other form than the eyes and the hands. They mean to show that God sees and knows and creates. Balarama is the source of Jiva Shakti of God; Subhudra, the Maya Shakti; and Sudarshana is the energy of Will.”
In summary, there are various opinions on the ontological position of Subhadra. Srila Prabhupada says she is Yogamaya. Srila Bhaktivinoda says she is Mahamaya. Regardless of the ontological position of Subhadra, the key takeaway is that she is nourisher of our bhakti. I would go with Srila Sanatana Goswami’s commentary as the final conclusion.
Srila Sanatana Goswami says in SBB 2.3.28: “You should worship me, considering me to be the maidservant of Visnu and subservient to Him. Or, worship me because I am His sister, having taken birth from the womb of Yasoda. Or, worship me as the embodiment of His energy. In these ways, I alone grant and nourish bhakti to Visnu. Although the illusory potency Mäyä and the potency of Visnu that increases bhakti are mutually exclusive, nevertheless, because the illusory potency is the shadow of Visnu’s energy, the two have been described as one.”
Final conclusion is ultimately the internal energy of Krsna is one, which manifests as many according to the Lord’s will and the requirement of His lila (acintya-bhedabheda). It has also been noted that the use of the word ’yoga-maya’ in the vocabulary of the acaryas is interchangeable with the word ‘maha-maya’. Accordingly, the sister of Krsna is one-energy manifesting as different personalities (Yogamaya, Mahamaya and bhakti-svarupa) according to the required service.
Question 5: Who did she marry? Did she have children?
Regarding the question about who Subhadra married and whether she had children, I will go with what is well-known as mentioned in the 86 chapter of 10th Canto. Arjuna kidnapped Subhadra (with Krsna’s approval and Balarama’s disapproval) and eventually married her. They had a son Abhimanyu who married Uttara. They gave birth to Pariksit Maharaja by whose mercy we are relishing Srimad Bhagavatam today.
I eagerly look forward to the findings of other devotees in this forum. Thank you!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Krsna Katha 