Śiśupāla
Śiśupāla was the king of Cedī and one of the most powerful kings of the Dvāpara Yuga. The tradition also says that he was the third and final birth of Jaya, a doorkeeper of Vaikuṇṭha who was put under a śāpa (a curse). Jaya had been born before as Hiraṇyakaśipu and as Rāvaṇa.
Śiśupāla was born with three eyes and four arms. From birth he was marked as one who would be slain by Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. His hatred of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa was strong and personal. It showed itself in insults, in rivalry between kings, and in the taking of Rukmiṇī, who had been meant to be his bride. At the Rājasūya of Yudhishṭhira, Bhīshma named Bhagavān Kṛshṇa for the agra-pūjā (the first honour). Śiśupāla then spoke against Him in front of everyone, until the hundred offenses were passed. The Sudarśana Cakra cut off his head. His jīva (living self) merged into Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, and he gained sāyujya-mukti (liberation by union).
Birth and the three-life cycle
Śiśupāla was born into the royal line of Cedī with three eyes and four arms. The ṛshis and astrologers said that the extra eye and the extra arms would fall away when the one who was destined to slay him held him. They also said that the same person would one day take his life.
Bhagavān Kṛshṇa visited the court of Cedī and took the baby in His arms. The third eye and the two extra arms fell away at once. Śiśupāla’s mother was Bhagavān Kṛshṇa’s aunt through Vasudeva. She saw the sign and begged Him: “This child is destined to die by your hand. I beg you, as a woman who nursed you with love, to spare him.” Bhagavān Kṛshṇa gave His promise: “I will forgive one hundred offenses from Śiśupāla before acting against him.”
The tradition says that Śiśupāla was the third birth of Jaya. Jaya and Vijaya were the two chief dvārapālas (doorkeepers) of Vaikuṇṭha. They turned the four Sanatkumāras away at the seventh gate. The four Sanatkumāras then laid a śāpa on both of them: three births as enemies of Bhagavān Vishṇu. These births were Hiraṇyakaśipu, Rāvaṇa and Śiśupāla. Through the three births, their vaira-dhyāna (meditation through enmity) ripened. It became the highest liberation at the moment of death at the hands of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
Grievances against Kṛshṇa
Śiśupāla’s enmity came from particular wrongs that he felt had been done to him:
- Bhagavān Kṛshṇa had killed Kaṃsa, who was Śiśupāla’s kinsman and ally.
- Bhagavān Kṛshṇa had carried off Rukmiṇī, the princess of Vidarbha who was meant for Śiśupāla in marriage, on the day of her svayaṃvara (the ceremony where a bride chooses her husband).
- Bhagavān Kṛshṇa had destroyed, in many campaigns, kings who were Śiśupāla’s allies and friends.
- Bhagavān Kṛshṇa had left Mathurā after the attacks of Jarāsandha. Śiśupāla pointed to this as a sign of cowardice.
In spite of this enmity, Śiśupāla submitted to Bhīmasena during the eastern digvijaya (conquest of the quarters) of the Pāṇḍavas, when Bhīma came to Cedī. He saw that the Pāṇḍava army was stronger. His submission was political, and not sincere.
The Rājasūya and the agra-pūjā
The Rājasūya of Yudhishṭhira was the great imperial consecration at Indraprastha. Śiśupāla was there among hundreds of kings. Bhīshma named Bhagavān Kṛshṇa for the agra-pūjā, the honour of first pūjā at the yajña (fire ritual). Śiśupāla burst out in anger.
He stood up before the whole assembly and gave fourteen arguments against Bhagavān Kṛshṇa’s right to the honour. He questioned His standing as a kshatriya. He called Him a coward and a thief. He accused Bhīshma of favouring Him. He said that the honour belonged to greater kings who were present: Bhīshma himself, Droṇa or Dhṛtarāshṭra. Several kings who shared Śiśupāla’s enmity rose and walked out with him.
The hundredth offense and death
As the quarrel grew, Śiśupāla’s insults grew too. He called Bhagavān Kṛshṇa a coward, a killer of innocent people and a deceitful schemer. The one hundred offenses that Bhagavān Kṛshṇa had promised to forgive were counted, and then passed.
Bhagavān Kṛshṇa stood and spoke calmly to the assembly: “I promised his mother I would forgive one hundred offenses. I have done so. His debt to that promise is fulfilled.”
The Sudarśana Cakra sprang from the hand of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa and with one turn cut off Śiśupāla’s head. A bright light rose from the headless body. All who were present could see it. It moved straight toward Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, hovered for a short time, and then merged into Him. Śiśupāla’s jīva reached sāyujya-mukti: liberation through complete union with the Supreme. It was the fruit of three lifetimes of intense thought on the divine form, though that thought came through hatred.
His son Śarabha and the Aśvamedha horse
Years after Śiśupāla’s death, his son Śarabha ruled Cedī from the city of Śuktimatī. The horse of the Pāṇḍava Aśvamedha, guarded by Arjuna, reached Śuktimatī during Arjuna’s digvijaya. Śarabha gave a short resistance. Then he honoured Arjuna and submitted to the yajña, as other kings did on that campaign. The Aśvamedhika Parva (Chapter 83) gives this.
Dvaisha-bhakti
Śiśupāla’s liberation is the standard example of dvaisha-bhakti. This is the path of strong enmity toward Bhagavān Vishṇu that still becomes a way to liberation. The doctrine says that any being whose antaḥkaraṇa (inner mind) stays fixed with full intensity on the form of Bhagavān Vishṇu, whether through love or through hatred, gathers the same momentum toward liberation as a pure devotee. Śiśupāla could not stop thinking of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, even while he blamed Him. That fixed thought, which lasted through three births, was itself the meditation that bore fruit.
In the assembly, Bhīshma spoke of this: “Śiśupāla’s very hatred is a form of praise. He cannot stop speaking Kṛshṇa’s name. His opposition itself constitutes constancy.”
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapters 36–38
- Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 83