Devaki (Sanskrit: देवकी, IAST: Devakī) is a character in Hindu literature, most noted for being the mother of the god Krishna.

[4] Her cousin is Kamsa,[5][6] the king of Mathura, a cruel tyrant who had been told by Narada that he had been an asura killed by Vishnu in his previous life (Kalanemi), exacerbating his wickedness.

[7] According to popular tradition, Devaki is considered to be an incarnation of Aditi, a mother goddess who was the daughter of Daksha and the wife of Kashyapa.

A celestial voice, an aśarīrī, prophesied that the eighth child of Devaki would become Kamsa's death, and deliver the land from his wickedness.

[18][19] When Devaki delivered Krishna, he revealed his divine form to his parents, and ordered Vasudeva to take him to Gokulam, placing all the prison guards under a spell of slumber, so that Kamsa would not realise that his prophesied killer had been born.

Devaki protested against the killing of the daughter of Nanda and Yashoda, but Kamsa hurled her against a rock, recognising that the gender of his prophesied slayer had not been specified.