Cedi
Cedi, “the Cedi country”
Matsya has other meanings too: see all meanings of Matsya. Sunanda has other meanings too: see all meanings of Sunanda.
Cedi is a kingdom of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, the land of King Damaghosha and of his son Śiśupāla. Its first lords were the sons of Uparicara Vasu. In the Tenth Skandha its king Śiśupāla is the bridegroom chosen for Rukmiṇī against her will, and the leader of a party of kings who hate Śrī Kṛshṇa and Balarāma. At the Rājasūya of Yudhishṭhira he reviled Śrī Kṛshṇa and was slain by his cakra, and a light rose from his body and entered Śrī Kṛshṇa. So the lord of Cedi became the Bhāgavata’s great example of one who reached Śrī Kṛshṇa through unbroken enmity.
The rulers of Cedi
Śuka tells Parīkshit the royal lines in the Ninth Skandha. In the line of Sudhanu, Suhotra‘s son was Cyavana, Cyavana’s son was Kṛti, and Kṛti’s son was Uparicara Vasu. Uparicara Vasu had sons beginning with Bṛhadratha, Kuśāmba, Matsya, Pratyagra and Cedipa. Bṛhadratha was the eldest, and these sons became the lords of the Cedi land.
Later Damaghosha was king of the Cedi country. He married Śrutaśravā, a daughter of Śūra and sister of Vasudeva, and their son was Śiśupāla.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapters 22, 24
Cedi at Rukmiṇī’s wedding
Rukmī, who hated Śrī Kṛshṇa, resolved to give his sister Rukmiṇī not to Śrī Kṛshṇa but to Śiśupāla, king of Cedi. In her message to Śrī Kṛshṇa, Rukmiṇī prayed that the king of Cedi should not come near and touch her, like a jackal taking the lion’s share, and asked Śrī Kṛshṇa to overcome Śiśupāla, Jarāsandha and their armies.
At Cedi, King Damaghosha had all the auspicious rites for his son’s wedding performed by those who know the mantras, the nāndī-śrāddha and the rest. Then he set out for Kuṇḍinanagara with an army of elephants flowing with mada, chariots with golden garlands, horses and foot soldiers, and Bhīshmaka of Vidarbha received him and lodged him in a palace. Śālva, Jarāsandha, Dantavakra, Vidūratha, Pauṇḍraka and thousands of other kings came as Śiśupāla’s party, ready to fight if Śrī Kṛshṇa came.
Śrī Kṛshṇa carried Rukmiṇī away before all the kings, and the Yādavas destroyed the armies of Jarāsandha, Śiśupāla and their allies. Śiśupāla, without lustre and with a bloodless face, was consoled by Jarāsandha, and the prince of the Cedi land went back to his city with his followers. Rukmiṇī herself later told how the kings who followed Śiśupāla had readied their bows to give her to him, and how Śrī Kṛshṇa took her as a lion takes its share from a flock. In jest Śrī Kṛshṇa once reminded her that kings like Śiśupāla of Cedi had sought her. Śiśupāla also came to the svayaṃvara of Lakshmaṇā, and with Jarāsandha, Duryodhana, Karṇa and others he strung the bow but could not find the fish.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 10, Chapters 52–54, 60, 83
The end of Śiśupāla, king of Cedi
Nārada Maharshi had foretold to Śrī Kṛshṇa that he would slay Śiśupāla, king of Cedi, at a great yajña. At Yudhishṭhira‘s Rājasūya the agrapūjā (the first honour) was given to Śrī Kṛshṇa. Śiśupāla, son of Damaghosha, rose and reviled him. The members of the assembly covered their ears and went out. When Śiśupāla took up sword and shield, Śrī Kṛshṇa cut off his head with his cakra, sharp as a razor. A light rose from the body of the king of Cedi, like a meteor fallen from the sky, and as all beings watched it entered Śrī Kṛshṇa. For three births he had kept enmity and so dwelt only on Śrī Kṛshṇa, and he merged into him. The Purāṇa says that whoever sings of the slaying of Śiśupāla, king of Cedi, with the agrapūjā and the other līlās of that Rājasūya, is freed from all pāpas. Leaving for Dvārakā after the Rājasūya, Śrī Kṛshṇa foresaw that those of the side of Śiśupāla, king of Cedi, would surely have done harm to his city. When Dantavakra fell later, the same wondrous radiance entered Śrī Kṛshṇa, just as at the slaying of the king of Cedi.
Yudhishṭhira asked Nārada how Śiśupāla could reach what even single-minded bhaktas find hard. Nārada answered that one should fix the mind on Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa by any means: the gopīs by love, Kaṃsa by fear, Śiśupāla, lord of Cedi, and other kings by hatred, the Yādavas by kinship, the Pāṇḍavas by friendship, and the ṛshis by bhakti. He told that Śiśupāla and Dantavaktra were Jaya and Vijaya, chief among the attendants of Vishṇu, who had fallen by the śāpa of the Sanaka brothers. Śuka gives the lesson to Parīkshit: if Śiśupāla, lord of Cedi, attained siddhi even while hating Śrī Hari, surely those who love Śrī Hari attain it.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 7, Chapters 1, 10; Skandha 10, Chapters 29, 37, 74–75, 77–78; Skandha 12, Chapter 12
Sources
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 7, Chapters 1, 10; Skandha 9, Chapters 22, 24; Skandha 10, Chapters 29, 37, 52–54, 60, 74–75, 77–78, 83; Skandha 12, Chapter 12