Shishupala (, ; sometimes spelt Sisupala) was the king of the Chedi kingdom, and an antagonist in the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

. He was the son of King Damaghosha and Srutashrava, the sister of

Kunti Kunti (, un̪t̪iː ), also known as Pritha (, ">r̩t̪ʰaː/nowiki>, ), is a prominent female character in the ancient Hindu epic '' Mahabharata''. She is chiefly recognised as the mother of the central characters—the five Pandavas—h ...

, as well as the cousin of Nanda. He was slain by

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

, his cousin and an avatar of

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

, at the great coronation ceremony of Yudhishthira, as a punishment for his opprobrious abuse made against him. He is also referred to as Chaidya ("King of Chedi"). Shishupala is considered to be the third and last birth of Vishnu's gatekeeper Jaya.

Mahabharata

The

states that Shishupala was born with three eyes and four arms. His parents were inclined to cast him out but were warned by a voice from heaven (''ākāśavāṇī'') not to do so, as his time had not come. It also foretold that his superfluous body parts would disappear when a certain person took the child into his lap and that he would eventually die at the hands of that same person. Coming to visit his cousin,

placed the child on his lap and the extra eye and arms disappeared, thus indicating Shishupala's death was destined at the hands of Krishna. In the Mahabharata, Shishupala's mother Shrutasrava persuaded her nephew, Krishna, that he would pardon his cousin Shishupala for a hundred offences. Rukmi, the prince of Vidarbha, was very close to Shishupala. He wanted his sister

Rukmini Rukmini (, ) is a Devi, Hindu goddess and the first queen of Krishna. She is described as the chief of Krishna's wives in Dvārakā. Rukmini is revered as the avatar of Lakshmi and is venerated primarily in Warkari, and Haridasa tradition, and ...

to marry Shishupala. But before the ceremony could take place, Rukmini chose to elope with Krishna. This made Shishupala hate Krishna. When Yudhishthira undertook the Rajasuya Yajna, he sent

Bhima Bhima (, ), also known as Bhimasena (, ), is a hero and one of the most prominent characters in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. As the second of the five Pandava brothers, Bhima was born to Kunti—the wife of King Pandu—fathered by Vayu, the ...

to obtain the fealty of Shishupala, now king after his father's death. Shishupala accepted Yudhishthira's supremacy with no protest and was invited to the final ceremony at Indraprastha. At that event, the Pandavas decided that Krishna would be the special honoured guest of the sacrificial ceremony. This angered Shishupala and he started insulting Krishna, calling him a mere cowherd and worthless to be honoured as a king. He also started insulting Bhishma, calling his vow to remain a

celibate Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the term ''celibacy'' is applied on ...

throughout life as an act of cowardice. Bhishma became furious and threatened Shishupala, but Krishna calmed him down. Through this act, he committed his 100th sin and was pardoned by Krishna. When he insulted Krishna again, he committed his 101st sin. Krishna then released his Sudarshana Chakra on Shishupala, killing him on the spot. Shishupala's soul was liberated and attained salvation by merging into Krishna's body. The

Shishupala Vadha The Shishupala Vadha (, IAST: ''Śiśupāla-vadha'', ''lit.'' "the slaying of Shishupala") is a work of classical Sanskrit poetry (''kāvya'') composed by Māgha in the 7th or 8th century. It is an epic poem in 20 ''sarga''s (cantos) of about 180 ...

is a work of classical

Sanskrit poetry Sanskrit literature is a broad term for all literature composed in Sanskrit. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as some ...

(''

kāvya Kāvya (Devanagari: :wikt:काव्य#Devanagari, काव्य, IAST: ''kāvyá'') refers to the Sanskrit literary style used by Kingdoms of Ancient India, Indian court poets flourishing between c. 200 BCE and 1200 CE. This literary styl ...

'') composed by Māgha in the 7th or 8th century. It is an

epic poem In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard to ...

consisting of 20 ''sarga''s ( cantos) of about 1800 highly ornate stanzas and is considered one of the six Sanskrit ''mahakavya''s, or "great epics". It is also known as the ''Māgha-kāvya'' after its author. Like other ''kavya's, it is admired more for its exquisite descriptions and lyrical quality than for any dramatic development of the plot. His sons were killed in the

Kurukshetra War The Kurukshetra War (), also called the Mahabharata War, is a war described in the Hindu Indian epic poetry, epic poem ''Mahabharata'', arising from a dynastic struggle between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, for the thr ...

References

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* {{Mahabharata Characters in the Mahabharata People related to Krishna Characters in the Bhagavata Purana

Mahabharata

See also

References

External links