Damaghosha
Damaghosha · dama-ghosha, “whose renown is self-restraint”
Damaghosha was the king of Cedi and the father of Śiśupāla. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa places him in the line of Cedi, which came down from Romapāda, and names his wife Śrutaśravā, a daughter of Śūra. When his son Śiśupāla was to be wed to Rukmiṇī, Damaghosha had the wedding rites performed and came with a great army to Kuṇḍina, where King Bhīshmaka received him with honour; but Śrī Kṛshṇa carried Rukmiṇī away. Again and again the Bhāgavata names Śiśupāla “the son of Damaghosha”, the king who hated Śrī Kṛshṇa from childhood and yet merged into him. Damaghosha himself was among the kings who gathered at Samantapañcaka and saw the form of Śrī Kṛshṇa with wonder.
His line and family
Śrī Śuka Maharshi tells Parīkshit that Romapāda‘s son was Babhru, Babhru’s son was Kṛti, Kṛti’s son was Uśika, and Uśika’s son was Cedi. Śiśupāla, Damaghosha and others belong to that line of Cedi.
Among the daughters of Śūra, Damaghosha, king of the Cedi country, married Śrutaśravā, and the son of Śrutaśravā was Śiśupāla, whose birth, Śuka says, was told earlier.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 24
The wedding at Kuṇḍina
When Bhīshmaka of Vidarbha, at the wish of his son Rukmī, prepared to give his daughter Rukmiṇī to Śiśupāla, Rukmiṇī sent a message to Śrī Kṛshṇa: if she had worshipped Parameśvara, the master of prakṛti, through works of service, yajñas, gifts, niyamas, vratas, the pūjā of devas, brāhmaṇas and gurus and bathing in tīrthas, then let Śrī Kṛshṇa, the elder brother of Gada, come and marry her, and let not Śiśupāla, the son of Damaghosha, Śālva or the others touch her.
In the same way as Bhīshmaka at Kuṇḍina, King Damaghosha, lord of the land of Cedi, had all the auspicious rites fit for the wedding of his son Śiśupāla performed by those who know the mantras, the nāndī-śrāddha and the rest. Surrounded by armies full of elephants flowing with mada, chariots with golden garlands, foot-soldiers and horses, he set out for Kuṇḍinanagara. Bhīshmaka, king of Vidarbha, went out to meet Damaghosha, honoured him with joy, and lodged him in a palace prepared beforehand. Śālva, Jarāsandha, Dantavakra, Vidūratha, Pauṇḍraka and thousands of others of Śiśupāla’s party came too, ready to fight if Śrī Kṛshṇa came to carry Rukmiṇī away. Then Śrī Kṛshṇa overcame the kings, brought Rukmiṇī to Dvārakā and married her according to rule.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapters 52–53
Śiśupāla, son of Damaghosha
- In Nārada‘s teaching. Dharmarāja Yudhishṭhira asked Nārada Maharshi with wonder how Śiśupāla, the son of Damaghosha, who from the days of his first lisping words had held anger against Govinda, became one with Vāsudeva, the Parabrahma, which even single-minded bhaktas find hard to attain. Nārada answered him at length, and at the close of his answer he says: “You asked me with respect how Śiśupāla, son of Damaghosha, and others merged into Śrī Hari’s svarūpa though they hated him. I have told you all of this.”
- At the Rājasūya. At Yudhishṭhira’s Rājasūya, Śiśupāla, the son of Damaghosha, who had no forbearance, rose from his seat on hearing the praise of Śrī Kṛshṇa and spoke harsh words against him.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 7, Chapters 1, 10; Skandha 10, Chapter 74
At Samantapañcaka
When a total eclipse of the sun came and people went from every region to Samantapañcaka, Bhīshma, Droṇa, Dhṛtarāshṭra, Gāndhārī, the Pāṇḍavas, Kuntī, Vidura, Kṛpa, Kuntibhoja, Virāṭa, Bhīshmaka, Nagnajit, Purujit, Drupada, Śalya, Dhṛshṭaketu, the king of Kāśī, Damaghosha, Viśālāksha and many other kings were astonished at the sight of the form of Śrī Kṛshṇa, a heap of beauty, and his queens, and they were honoured by Balarāma and Śrī Kṛshṇa.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapter 82
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 7, Chapters 1, 10; Skandha 9, Chapter 24; Skandha 10, Chapters 52–53, 74, 82