Śiśupāla Vadha in the Sabhā Parva

The Śiśupāla Vadha is the account in the Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapters 36 to 38, of how Śiśupāla, king of Cedī, died at the Rājasūya yajña of Yudhishṭhira. Śiśupāla was a long-time enemy of Śrī Kṛshṇa. When Bhīshma named Kṛshṇa for the honour of the first agra-pūjā (first honour), Śiśupāla stood up and spoke against Kṛshṇa at length.

Kṛshṇa had promised Śiśupāla’s mother that he would forgive one hundred offences. When Śiśupāla crossed the hundredth, the Sudarśana Cakra took his life at once. The tradition says the jīva (living being) of Śiśupāla, who had been Hiraṇyakaśipu and Rāvaṇa in earlier lives, merged into Kṛshṇa and gained moksha (liberation).

Background: three lives of hatred

The ṛshis in the assembly and Bhīshma both knew who Śiśupāla was. He was the third birth of a being whose bond with Bhagavān Vishṇu ran through the ages.

In the Kṛta Yuga he was born as Hiraṇyakaśipu, the great asura emperor. He harmed his own son Prahlāda for honouring Vishṇu, and the Narasiṃha avatāra killed him.
In the Tretā Yuga he was born as Rāvaṇa, the king of Laṅkā. He carried off Sītā, and Rāma killed him.
In the Dvāpara Yuga he was born as Śiśupāla, king of Cedī, meant once more to die at the hands of Kṛshṇa.

The tradition understands it this way. Jaya and Vijaya, the doorkeepers of Vaikuṇṭha, received a śāpa (curse) from the Sanaka ṛshis. They were to be born on earth for three lives as enemies of Bhagavān Vishṇu. The strength of their hatred, with the mind fixed all the time on the form they fought, became a kind of meditation, though turned upside down. At the moment of death at the hands of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, that meditation gave its fruit: moksha.

Śiśupāla’s enmity with Kṛshṇa

Śiśupāla’s enmity had clear causes.

Kṛshṇa had killed Kaṃsa, an ally and relative of Śiśupāla.
Kṛshṇa had taken Rukmiṇī, who was meant for Śiśupāla, by carrying her off. Śiśupāla felt this took away the bride that was rightly his.
Kṛshṇa had killed kings who were Śiśupāla’s allies and friends in many campaigns.

When Śiśupāla submitted to Bhīma’s eastern digvijaya (conquest of the quarters), it was a practical step, not real respect.

The promise to Śiśupāla’s mother

Śiśupāla’s mother was Kṛshṇa’s aunt, the sister of his father Vasudeva. Śiśupāla was born with three eyes and four arms. The astrologers warned that the extra eye and arms would fall away only when the child was held by the one who was destined to kill him, and that this same person would one day take his life.

Kṛshṇa visited and held the child. The extra eye and arms fell away. His mother knew the sign and begged Kṛshṇa for mercy. Kṛshṇa promised: “I will forgive one hundred offences from Śiśupāla before I act. Your son will have that many chances.”

Bhīshma’s choice and the fourteen arguments

On the day of the abhishecanīya (the sprinkling) of the Rājasūya, Sahadeva carried the golden arghya vessel toward Kṛshṇa, on Bhīshma’s advice. Śiśupāla stood up and said loudly that the choice insulted every king present. He then gave fourteen arguments against Kṛshṇa’s worth.

Kṛshṇa belongs to the Yādava line, a line that not everyone accepts as kshatriya.
Kṛshṇa is not a king. He is only a dependent of the Yādava group of states.
Among the kings present, far greater rulers deserve the honour, such as Bhīshma himself, Droṇa or Dhṛtarāshṭra.
Kṛshṇa ran away from Mathurā and took shelter at Dvārakā. That is hardly the conduct of a warrior who deserves the highest honour.
Kṛshṇa stole the wife meant for Śiśupāla, Rukmiṇī.
Kṛshṇa’s birth is irregular. Śiśupāla called him the son of a mere gopī (cowherd woman) and said his foster family are cowherds.
Bhīshma named Kṛshṇa out of favour toward the Pāṇḍavas, not from a fair judgment.
Kṛshṇa is not fit, because in royal experience he is only a child.
Giving him the honour over his grandsire Bhīshma dishonours age and wisdom.
Droṇa, the teacher of all the warriors in the assembly, deserves the honour over the friend of his own student.
A brāhmaṇa stands above the kshatriyas in some assemblies.
Virāṭa or Drupada, experienced kings and fathers, should be preferred.
The assembly has already bowed to Yudhishṭhira. Giving the honour to Kṛshṇa turns the gathering into Kṛshṇa’s yajña, not Yudhishṭhira’s.
The choice is an insult to every king present, and they refuse to accept it.

At this, several kings who were allies of Śiśupāla rose and walked out of the assembly. They said they would not take part in a yajña that honoured Kṛshṇa first.

The Mahābhārata gives this in Sabhā Parva, Chapter 37.

Bhīshma’s reply

Bhīshma answered calmly and in full about who Kṛshṇa is. He did not argue on grounds of rank or power. He spoke of Kṛshṇa’s true nature:

“Kṛshṇa is Nārāyaṇa. He is the Avyakta Prakṛti, the undivided ground of all creation. He is the Sanātana Purusha. Every being in this assembly, Śiśupāla himself included, exists only because Kṛshṇa holds them up. To ask whether Kṛshṇa deserves the agra-pūjā is like asking whether the ocean deserves to be called wet. The question answers itself.”

Bhīshma went on: “Those of us who have lived long in dharmic awareness have seen his many forms: Narasiṃha, Vāmana, Rāma. Those present today are seeing the avatāra in its fullest form. Śiśupāla’s objection does not come from wisdom. It comes from a hatred that is itself a way of devotion, because he cannot stop thinking about Kṛshṇa. In that sense even his opposition is praise.”

The Mahābhārata gives this in Sabhā Parva, Chapter 38.

The hundredth offence and moksha

The quarrel went on, and Śiśupāla’s words grew sharper. He called Kṛshṇa a coward, a thief and a deceitful killer of the innocent. The offences piled up toward one hundred, and then went past it.

When the hundredth was crossed, Kṛshṇa rose. He spoke to the assembly calmly: “I promised his mother that I would forgive one hundred offences. I have done so. His debt to that promise is now paid.”

The Sudarśana Cakra, bright, spinning and not to be stopped, sprang from Kṛshṇa’s hand. With a single turn it took Śiśupāla’s head from his body.

A brilliant light rose from the headless body, and everyone in the assembly could see it. It moved straight toward Kṛshṇa, stayed for a moment before Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, and then merged into him. The jīva of Śiśupāla had spent three lifetimes in deep contemplation of the divine form, though in an upside-down way. It had gained sāyujya-mukti: complete absorption into the Supreme.

Silence fell on the assembly. Then Yudhishṭhira had the body carried away with full royal honours, and he completed the yajña.

The Mahābhārata gives this in Sabhā Parva, Chapter 38.

Dvaisha-bhakti

The Śiśupāla Vadha is one of the main texts behind the teaching of dvaisha-bhakti (devotion through enmity). It holds that even hatred of Bhagavān Vishṇu, if kept up with enough strength and focus, is a form of constant meditation and bears the same final fruit as loving devotion. Hiraṇyakaśipu, Rāvaṇa and Śiśupāla are the three well-known examples. Their liberation at the hands of Bhagavān Vishṇu in his own forms is understood as the highest grace, not as punishment but as release.

The ṛshis, kings and Bhīshma himself, who had seen the whole span of the Mahābhārata age, accepted the choice of Kṛshṇa. Only those blinded by enmity spoke against it.

Sources

Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapters 36 to 38
Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapter 37 (the fourteen arguments)
Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapter 38 (Bhīshma’s reply; the hundredth offence and the death of Śiśupāla)