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Ratnamala — Daughter of Mahabali, Previous Birth of Putana
Ratnamala · Ratnamālā · Mahabali-putri · Vamana-abhilasini · Putana-purvajanma
Ratnamala is the daughter of Mahabali and his queen Vindhyavali, and the sister of Banasura. She is recorded in the Padma Purana and the Brahma Vaivarta Purana as a figure of crucial significance in the doctrine of rebirth and karmic consequence: she is the previous birth of Putana — the demoness who attempted to poison the infant Krishna by feeding him from her poison-smeared breast, and who was killed by him in the process. The thread connecting Ratnamala to Putana is a single, precise moment at the Vamana episode: when Vamana arrived at Mahabali's sacrifice, Ratnamala was overcome with intense maternal love for the divine child and wished to suckle him as her son. Vishnu granted her this desire — but her mood shifted to hatred when Vamana took her father's kingdom. In her next birth, as Putana, she was granted the wish she had expressed at the Vamana sacrifice: she nursed the infant Krishna. But she came to him with poison, not love. Krishna drank both the milk and her life. The tradition records that despite this, she attained liberation — through the act of nursing Krishna himself, regardless of her intent. Her canonical record is entirely contained within these two episodes. The profile is accordingly brief.
✦ The Name
The Sanskrit name Ratnamala is formed from ratna — jewel, gem, precious stone — and mala — garland, string, necklace. Together: a garland of jewels or she who is a necklace of gems. It is a name of high royal beauty — fitting for the daughter of the most celebrated Asura emperor in the tradition. The name contrasts strikingly with the darkness of her subsequent incarnation: the jewel-garlanded princess who longed to nurse the divine child became the poisoning demoness of Gokula.
✦ Lineage
- Father: Mahabali — Asura emperor; Chiranjivi; future Indra of the Savarni Manvantara; subdued by Vishnu's Vamana avatar
- Mother: Vindhyavali — daughter of Himavat; sister of Parvati and Ganga
- Brothers: Banasura (eldest of the hundred sons; thousand-armed devotee of Shiva) and Namasu and ninety-eight others
- Grandfather: Virochana — slain by Indra in the Tarakamaya war
- Great-grandfather: Prahlada — supreme devotee of Vishnu
- Next birth: Putana — the Rakshasi sent by Kamsa to kill the infant Krishna at Gokula; killed by Krishna as he drank the poisoned milk; liberated despite her intent because she had given herself as a mother to the divine child
✦ The Episode at the Vamana Sacrifice — Two Versions
The Padma Purana (Brahmanda Khanda, Vamana Pratishtha section) records that Ratnamala was present at Mahabali's great Ashvamedha sacrifice when Vamana arrived. Ratnamala, the daughter of Bali, felt attracted towards Vamana and desired to have him as her son. The Brahma Vaivarta Purana presents a slightly different and more elaborate version: when Ratnamala saw the beautiful divine child — five years old, wearing deerskin, with a radiance brighter than the sun — she was overwhelmed with maternal feelings towards him. Understanding her desire, the Lord spoke to her, giving her the benediction that in her next life she would be able to suckle him, just like a mother. However, shortly after this, Lord Vamana took the whole universe from Bali, and Ratnamala's mood of attraction for the Lord changed into one of hatred. Within her mind she thought: perhaps I will have you as my son and breast feed you — but with poison. This moment — the pivot from love to revenge — is the precise karmic seed of her next incarnation. She received both the wish and the corruption of the wish simultaneously: she would nurse Krishna, and she would do so with poison.
✦ Putana — The Next Birth and Liberation
In her next birth as Putana, Ratnamala was born into the Rakshasi lineage and was employed by Kamsa to kill the infant Krishna by smearing her breasts with poison and nursing him. She arrived at Gokula in the form of a beautiful woman, entered Yashoda's house, and nursed the infant. Krishna drank the milk and her life simultaneously. The Bhagavata Purana records that Putana was liberated despite her murderous intent — because she had offered herself as a mother to Krishna, and Krishna, as the tradition records, accepts even the smallest act toward him with complete generosity. The Gaudiya Vaishnava commentators note that Putana received the status of a foster mother of Krishna — a position of eternal proximity to the divine — because, whatever her intent, the act of offering milk to an infant is a mother's act, and Krishna honoured it as such. The Facebook/Hari Madhavam source quoted in the search confirms the identity across both Puranas: in the previous birth of Putana was Ratnamala, the daughter of demon king Mahabali.
✦ References
- Padma Purana (Brahmanda Khanda, Vamana Pratishtha section) — the primary canonical source naming Ratnamala as the daughter of Bali who felt attracted to Vamana and desired to have him as her son; the foundational text for her identification at the Vamana episode
- Brahma Vaivarta Purana — the more elaborated account: Ratnamala's maternal love for the divine child; Vishnu's benediction granting her the boon of nursing him; her subsequent shift to hatred when Vamana took the kingdom; the poisoned-nursing thought that became the seed of her next birth; the identification with Putana as the fulfilment of both wish and revenge simultaneously
- Bhagavata Purana (Canto 10, Chapter 6) — the Putana episode itself: her arrival at Gokula; the poisoned nursing; Krishna's simultaneous drinking of milk and life; Putana's liberation; the tradition of her being honoured as a foster mother
- Wikipedia — Vamana (citing the Padma Purana account); Harekrsna.in — Putana's Previous Life as Ratnamala (citing the Brahma Vaivarta Purana account); Wikipedia — Mahabali (recording Ratnamala as Mahabali's daughter in the Vamana episode): modern summaries drawing from the above primary sources