Krishna was taken to Gokula by Vasudeva in order to protect Him from Kamsa. In Gokula, a girl was born to Yasoda. She was taken away by Vasudeva, who left Krishna in her place. When this girl child was lifted by Kamsa, with a view to killing her, she slipped from his grasp, rose in the sky, and warned Kamsa that the One who was going to kill him was safe and sound in Gokula.
Who was this girl child? She was Yoga Maya. She always remains single, and so she is known as a nitya kannika. She is also called Durga, but is not to be confused with Parvati, said M.A. Venkatakrishnan in a discourse. She is known as antari because she rose up in the sky. All this was pre-planned by the Lord. Balarama was the seventh child of Devaki. But he was transferred by Yoga Maya to the womb of Rohini, another wife of Vasudeva. Later Yoga Maya entered the womb of Yasoda, and Krishna took His place in Devaki’s womb. After birth, the two were exchanged by Vasudeva. Krishna was born on Ashtami and because Yoga Maya was born on Navami, which comes after Ashtami, she is considered His younger sister.
In Her Nachiar Thirumozhi, Andal, while speaking of Her marriage to Krishna, speaks of Her sister-in-law Antari! She says Antari helped Her drape the wedding saree. It is customary for the groom’s sister to help the bride wear the wedding saree, and Andal refers to this tradition, and says it was Antari who performed this task as Krishna’s sister. We find a representation of Yoga Maya in the Trivikrama temple in Thirukkoilur, in Tamil Nadu. Although Yoga Maya warned Kamsa, he could not bear to think that Krishna was alive. “Tharikilaanaagi,” says Andal, of Kamsa’s intolerance. He sent many to kill Krishna, but Krishna destroyed all of them.
