Dantavaktra

Dantavaktra was the king of Karūsha and one of the fiercest enemies of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa in the Dvāpara Yuga. He was a close ally of Śiśupāla and, like Śiśupāla, held deep and lasting hostility toward Kṛshṇa. The tradition names him as the third birth of Vijaya, one of the two doorkeepers of Vaikuṇṭha. Kṛshṇa slew him after the Rājasūya.

Who he was

Dantavaktra was king of Karūsha, a region in central Bhārata. He was one of Śiśupāla’s most devoted allies. His enmity toward Kṛshṇa was as deep and steady as Śiśupāla’s.

Jaya, Vijaya and the Sanatkumāras

The tradition says that Jaya and Vijaya were the two doorkeepers of Vaikuṇṭha. The Sanatkumāras laid a śāpa (a curse) on them. They were to take three births as enemies of Bhagavān Vishṇu and then return to Vaikuṇṭha. Dantavaktra is one of the births of Vijaya, and Śiśupāla is one of the births of Jaya.

• Jaya’s three births: Hiraṇyakaśipu, then Rāvaṇa, then Śiśupāla.
• Vijaya’s three births: Hiraṇyāksha, then Kumbhakarṇa, then Dantavaktra.

All six were freed at the moment of death at the hands of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Their vaira-dhyāna (constant thought of Bhagavān Vishṇu through enmity) had grown so intense that it brought them liberation.

In the time of the Rājasūya

Dantavaktra, like Śiśupāla, submitted to the Pāṇḍava digvijaya (campaign of conquest) because he was forced to. He never gave up his basic enmity toward Kṛshṇa. After Śiśupāla died at the Rājasūya, Dantavaktra remained one of the hostile kings who sought to challenge Kṛshṇa’s supremacy.

Kṛshṇa himself slew Dantavaktra. This meeting is usually placed after the Rājasūya. His death completed the liberation of Vijaya’s three births, just as Śiśupāla’s death at the Rājasūya itself completed Jaya’s.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva