Sages & Others
Putana
पूतना
The Demoness Nurse
Who was Putana?
Putana (पूतना): The Demoness Nurse, one of the sages and supporting figures in the Mahabharata. A demoness sent by Kamsa who came to Gokula as a beautiful nurse with poisoned breasts; the infant Krishna drained her life away, granting her, by his touch, a nurse's place in liberation.
Quick Facts
| Sanskrit name | पूतना |
|---|---|
| Title / Epithet | The Demoness Nurse |
| Faction | Sages & Others |
| Key traits | deceptive, deadly, redeemed |
| Featured in | 5 stories |
About Putana
A demoness sent by Kamsa who came to Gokula as a beautiful nurse with poisoned breasts; the infant Krishna drained her life away, granting her, by his touch, a nurse's place in liberation.
In Their Words
Come, beautiful child, drink.
Putana
Traits
- deceptive
- deadly
- redeemed
Story Appearances
Stories Featuring Putana
4 further tales on this site name Putana, in canonical reading order.
- The Divine ChildThe Divine descends whenever dharma declines and adharma rises. Krishna's childhood miracles remind us that God...
- The Divine ChildKrishna's life is the Mahabharata's answer to the question: What does God look like when God walks among us? The answer...
- The Thunderbolt and the Seizers of ChildrenWhat came out of the wound, and the bargain that followed
- How the Krittikas Took Abhijit's PlaceA star leaves the sky in envy of her elder sister, and Skanda's six nurses are raised into the empty station
Places in Putana's Story
Drawn from the stories Putana appears in.
Related Characters
Others counted among the Sages & Others.