PURPORT

It appears that Vasudeva, the father of Lord Krsna, had completely separate residential quarters where he lived with his eighteen wives, out of whom Srimati Devaki is the real mother of Lord Krsna. But inspite of this, all other stepmothers were equally affectionate to Him, as will be evident from the following verse. Lord Krsna also did not distinguish His real mother from His stepmothers, and He equally offered His obeisances unto all the wives of Vasudeva present on the occasion. According to scriptures also, there are seven mothers: 1) the real mother, 2) the wife of the spiritual master, 3) the wife of a brahmana, 4) the wife of the king, 5) the cow, 6) the nurse, and 7) the earth. All of them are mothers. Even by this injunction of the sastras, the stepmother, who is the wife of the father, is also as good as the mother because the father is also one of the spiritual masters. Lord Krsna, the Lord of the universe, plays the part of an ideal son just to teach others how to treat their stepmothers.