Episode 35

Sisupala Vadha- Accomplishment of Rajasuya[i]

Rajasuya signifies the establishment supreme power over all the kigdoms and regions of the earth. The story is a delight for a geographer in the sense that we find references to many ancient kingdoms conquered by Pandavas and we find the sequence of conquest exactly according to geographic positioning of their current locations.

In this story we find certain traditions which we have been following even by today, thus establishing the Hindu way of life.

In this story a detailed discussion of the events that led to the destruction of Sisupala are highlighted. Does god really take away the sins of a person? If god is ‘nirvikara’ and ‘nirvikalpa’, why does he perform karma? A deeper analysis of the story brings out answer to these types of intricate questions.

The Story

In the last episode we have read the conquest of Magadha and the killing of Jarasandha by Bhima. But what is yet to be done is much more. Dharmaraja was aware of the presence of many more kings across the Bharath who were not still under his sway. All the four brothers of Yudhishtira decided to make expeditions in four different directions from Indraprastha.

Arjuna took the blessings of his brother and started conquering the northern kingdoms. He attacked Kulinda desa and annexed the kingdom with ease. After defeating Sumandala desa and Sakalya desa, Arjuna drove towards Pragjyotishapura and defeated not only his soldiers but also the soldiers of Kiratas, Chinese and other allies. He defeated Antargiri, Bahirgiri, Upagiri and attacked Uluka desa. Arjuna also defeated Kasmira desa, Abhisara, Uragavasa, Simhapura, Kambhoja and Dhavalagiri. Arjuna saw the mountain Meru and the Jambu river. He turned towards left and conquered Ketumalavarsha and crossed Nila mountain. He defeated all Himalayan kingdoms and returned to Indraprasta with huge quantity of pearls, gold, and high breed of horses.

Bhima took a few battalions of soldiers and made expedition in the East. He annexed the kingdoms of Panchala and Videha. Pulinda nagara had fallen prey under the might of Bhima.  Chedi desa was ruled by Sisupala. He came out of his fort and agreed to surrender to the sovereign power of Yudhishtira and made peace with Bhima. Bhima further advanced and defeated the kings of Kosala, Kasi, Matsya and Malada desa. He also conquered Vaideha, Girivraja, Pundra desa, Tamralipta, Karvata and subdued all Mlechha kings of the region. He also brought huge ransom and filled the coffers of Yudhishtira.

Sahadeva’s southern conquest started with Surasena desa, Matsya desa, Nishada desa, Gosrunga, Avanti, Kataka, Pulindas and Pandyas. The kings of Kishkinda accepted the supremacy of Yudhishtira and paid huge ransom. He defeated Mahishmati, Dandakaranya, and other southern regions and made Pandyas, Dravidas, Undras, Keralites, Andhras, Kalingas and other to pay ransom every year. On reaching the shores of the sea, he thought of defeating Sri Lanka. He recalled Ghatotkacha and immediately he appeared before him. Upon the orders of Sahadeva, he crossed the river and reached the palace of Vibhishana. The king Vibhishana received Ghatkacha with courtesy and Ghatotkacha explained the greatness of all the Pandava brothers and the support they had with Sri Krishna. Vibhishana agreed to pay ransom and presented huge number of beds, blankets, pearls and many more golden ornaments.

Nakula’s western expeditions were praiseworthy. He defeated the rulers of Dasarna desa, Trigarta, Ambashta, Malava, Pancha karkata and Madhyamika kingdoms. He also conquered Pancha nada desa (Punjab), Amara Parvata, Divya Kataka, Dvarapala nagara, Ramatha, Hara, Huna and reached Madra desa. He conquered Madra desa with love since it was ruled by his maternal uncle, Salya. He also defeated Mlechhas, Barbaras, Kiratas, Yavanas and Sakas of western region.

Dharmaraja was happy. The Kosa (coffers) was full of gold and jewels. He started ruling the country with all virtues and righteousness.

रक्षणाद् धर्मराजस्य सत्यस्य परिपालनात् |

शत्रूणां क्षपणाश्चैव स्वकर्म निरताः प्रजा: ||[ii]

(Protecting the people, adhering to truth, rule with transparency and integrity, and destroying the enemies remain his areas of concern)

He encouraged agriculture, cow protection and business activities. Krishna was pleased with the benevolence and advised Dharmaraja to go ahead with Rajasuya. With the blessings of Sri Krishna, the preparations started in a big way.

The last brother of Pandavas, Sahadeva was made in charge of overall supervision and overview the preparations. Veda Vysa volunteered to be Brahmaa, Yagnavalkya was the Adhvarvu, Paila Maharhi became Hota and eminent Brahmins from Dhananjaya gotra became the singers of Samaveda[iii].

On the orders of Yudhishtira, Sahadeva despatched convoys to different countries and Ashramas (आश्रम) for inviting the eminent people of the day. Nakula personally went to Hastinapura to invite Bhishma, Drona and all Kauravas. People across the country started pouring into Indraprastha and it looked like a sea of people.

The architects of Indraprasta constructed houses for accommodation for all the visiting dignitaries. There were band of story tellers, dancers, singers, and entertaining people all around to make the whole atmosphere vibrant with happy, sweetness and light. All the places they heard voices- ‘Give them something, give them sumptuous food, take care of them’ etc[iv]

Dharmaraja started assigning duties to all his brothers and elders. Dussasana oversaw cooking and food arrangement. Sanjaya was to receive the kings with courtesy. Duryodhana was to preserve the jewels, pearls and other gifts. Vidura can spend and do charities. It was Yudhishtira’s intention that anyone who attend the function should not go back at least with thousand gold coins.

The Rajasuya started with all pomp and pageantry. On the day of great coronation, Bhishma advised Yudhishitira to initially perform worship to elders.

आचार्यमृत्विजं चैव सयुजयं च युधिष्ठिर |

स्नातकं च प्रियं पाहुः षडर्घ्यार्हान् नृपं तथा ||[v]

Acharya, Ritvik, Samyokta, Snataka, Mitra, Raja are the six people who deserve worship. 

Water was brought in golden pots to initiate Arghya (oblation with water). Yudhishtira did not know whom he should offer the first worship and sought Bhishma’s suggestion. Bhishma suggested to offer the arghya to Sri Krishna.

Point of Discard

Sisupala, the king of Chedi desa could not digest the attitude of Yudhishtira and Bhishma in offering the highest respect to Sri Krishna. With loud voice, he objected it as an act of insult to the assembled kings.

He yelled out, ‘Oh Yudhishtir! You do not know the subtle nature of dharma. What you have done today is an insult to the community of kings. If you want to offer the highest respect based on age, there are others who are elders to Krishna in this court. If you want to offer the respect on friendship, there is Drupada who is much closer to you. If you opt a Ritvik, Krishna can nowhere stand comparable to Ved Vyasa. If you have considered him as great king, he is much inferior to Duryodhana’.

‘Krishna is not a Ritvik, not an Acharya, not a king; and on what consideration he merits the first offer worship?’.

Then he turned towards Krishna and told, ‘If they offer the first worship to you out of ignorance, how could you accept it? What is the use if marriage is done to a Eunuch? What is the use of showing a mirror to a blind man? What is the use of giving oblation to you?[vi]

Then Sisupala stood up and as a matter of protest left the court accompanied by a few kings. Sisupala was the guest and Yudhishtira did not want to displease him. He reached Sisupala and told, ‘My dear king! Kindly do not get excited. When all kings in this assembly are acknowledging the supremacy of Krishna, why do you protest? Bhishma knows the power and the strength of Krishna. You please come back and listen to the wise words of Bhishma’.

On the request of Yudhishtira, Bhishma narrated to the entire audience the omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient nature of Krishna and explained vividly all his incarnations upon the earth (In Maha Bharata, Veda Vyasa has devoted nearly 760 slokas to describe the nature Sri Krishna in the 38 chapter of Sabha Parva).

Then Sahadeva stood up and with a harsh tone proclaimed, ‘I shall put my leg on those kings who don’t accept Krishna’s supremacy. Let anyone come and challenge me’. Sisupala got very angry and he started mobilising other kings to attack Pandavas and Sri Krishna. In a matter of few minutes, there was a huge army of soldiers and kings determined to destabilise the Yaga.

Sensing an imminent attack, Yudhishtira sought the advice of Bhishma. ‘When the lion sleeps, the dogs bark around it. When Krishna is calm these kings are barking. Do not worry’, Bhishma advised.

Sisupala heard Bhishma and openly started blasting Krishna, Yudhishtira and Bhishma with pungent words.  Bhima was very angry, but he was held back by Bhishma. Sisupala challenged Bhima to kill him and challenged the powers of Bhishma.

Bhishma got angry and looking at Sisupala started narrating the story of Sisupala to the audience.

Sisupala’s birth and his brought up

Sisupala was the son of Damaghosha (the king of Chedi) and Srutashrava. Srutashrava had a sister - Kunti (the mother of the five Pandavas). Srutashrava had a brother - Vasudeva (The father of Shri Krishna). Thus, Kunti and Srutashrava were the maternal aunts of Sri Krishna.

When Sisupala was born, he was born with three eyes and four hands. When the parents were very unhappy and wanted to discard the baby to a dustbin, a celestial voice pronounced, ‘this boy is going to become a great king and he will die in the hands of that person who can give him a regular human form upon touching’.

Sisupala’s mother started giving the baby to all and sundry, but his disfigured human form did not change. One day when Krishna lifted the boy, suddenly his third eye and the extra hands dropped off. Srutashrava came to Krishna and begged him a boon. Krishna agreed. Then she asked to pardon the mistakes and blunders of Sisupala. Krishna promised that he would pardon hundred mistakes of Sisupala and left the place.

Bhishma concluded, ‘this Sisupala is destined to die in the hands of Krishna. If he is challenging Krishna, he is inviting his own death’. Sisupala got enraged and he started abusing the Pandavas, Bhishma and Krishna. He openly challenged Krishna to discard his feminine eunuch quality if he really had the strength. The entire atmosphere was surcharged with eerie of silence and no one knew whether there would be a tempest.

On one side Yudhishitira was anxious about the Rajasuya and the disastrous open challenge of a few kings. He could not afford to insult his guests. Finally, Krishna got up and without losing his equanimity told aloud, ‘I have pardoned this Sisupala all this time due to the promise that I had given to my aunt. Now his hundred mistakes are over’.

Then Krishna took out his Sudarsana Chakra (disk weapon) and hurled at Sisupala. In no time his head was cut off and an unknown light from Sisupala’s body touched the feet of Krishna and merged into him. All kings witnessed the gruesome incident and some praised Krishna, some kept quiet, and some murmured among themselves and no one challenged Pandavas anymore.

Yudhishtira accomplished his objective of performing one of the toughest Yagas, ie, Rajasuya with the blessings of Krishna.

An Analysis

The story starts with the expeditions of four brothers of Dharmaraja to four directions with Indraprastha as the base. If we closely see the names of these kingdoms and relate with the current day names, we wonder the wisdom of our elders in geographical knowledge of Bharath (India). All the kingdoms conquered by Pandavas geographically located in the same order.

When means of communication and transport were minimum, we wonder how the conquests stretched up to Manasa Sarovar in the north to Sri Lanka in the south; from Afghanistan in the west to Manipur in the east. Such was the extent of Bharath in those days.

The story gives out the traditional lineage we inherit from our ancestors. For example, Rajasuya starts with worshipping elders. Even now we have the practice of (पाद पूजा) before any ritual- say marriage, upanayanam etc. Similarly, we witness a band of story tellers, dancers, singers, and entertaining people all around to make the whole atmosphere vibrant with happy in Rajasuya. We have the same tradition even now for small events.

The death of Sisupala is the theme of this story. Why did Sisupala develop so much enmity with Krishna though he knows that a celestial voice proclaimed his death in the hands of Krishna? There lies the irony which is not mentioned in Sabha Parva. A story goes that Sanakasananda rishis[vii] cursed two gate keepers of Vaikunta (Jaya and Vijaya) to born as demons on earth when the gatekeepers refused their entry into the court of Sri Maha Vishnu in Vaikunta loka.  Vishnu gave an option to the gate keepers- they can be Vishnu devotees and reach Vaikunta after hundred births on earth; or they can be his enemies for three births and reach Vaikunta after dying in the hands of Vishnu. Jaya and Vijaya chose the second option.

In Krita Yuga, they were born as Hiranya Kasipu and Hiranyakha who were the arch-rivals of Vishnu. Vishnu killed them when he incarnated as Narasimha and Varaha forms. In Dwapar Yuga, they were born as Ravana and Kumbhakarna and died in the hands of Sri Rama. In Treta Yuga, they were born as Sisupala and Danta Vaktra and died in the hands of Krishna.

The commentators of Maha Bharata opine that Sisupala blasting and challenging the authority of Krishna was indeed the sankalpa of Sri Krishna only. There were two reasons to exterminate Sisupala so fast – If he was not killed, Yudhishtira could not perform Rajasuya and secondly if he was not killed on that day, Vishnu had to incarnate again to kill Sisupala. Why Bhima was held back by Bhishma when the former wanted to kill him? Because, Bhishma knew that Sisupala’s death can happen only in the hands of Vishnu.

Any normal human being lose temper if someone hurls vitriolic abuses, but Krishna kept his calm throughout. In Hindu philosophy, God does not take responsibility for any person’s virtuous or sinful deeds. A person is good/ bad; rich/poor/; virtuous/sinful according to his own deeds (karmas). Krishna was equanimous as for the virtues or sins of Sisupala were concerned. See the sloka of Gita:

नादत्ते कस्यचित्पापं न चैव सुकृतं विभु: |

अज्ञानेनावृतं ज्ञानं तेन मुह्यन्ति जन्तव: ||[viii] (The God does not involve Himself in the sinful or virtuous deeds of anyone. The living beings are deluded because their inner knowledge is covered by ignorance).

Then why did he kill Sisupala? Even Krishna must perform karma without getting attached to the fruits of karma. This was the reason he exterminated Sisupala to facilitate the smooth passage of Rajasuya.

Points to ponder

1.  Does Hinduism believe in the concept that human beings are basically sinners? How does Hinduism differ from Christianity in assuming that God removes the sins of human beings?

2.  Who are the persons that deserve oblation before any major event is embarked upon?

Footnotes

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[i] This story is taken from the Sabha Parva of Maha Bharata written by sage Ved Vyasa.

[ii] rakṣaṇād dharmarājasya satyasya paripālanāt |

śatrūṇāṃ kṣapaṇāścaiva svakarma niratāḥ prajā: || - Sabha Parva 33.1

[iii] In Rajasuya, four priests are very important.

a.  Hota (होत) will be reciting Rigveda

b.  Adhvaryu (अध्वर्यु) is the Yajurvedic priest who conducts the Yaga.

c.  Udgata (उद्गात) sings the songs of Sama Veda

d.  Brahmaa (ब्रह्मा) is the chief priest of Adharva Veda and is of overall supervision.

[iv] Sabha Parva 33.51

[v] ācāryamṛtvijaṃ caiva sayujayaṃ ca yudhiṣṭhira |

snātakaṃ ca priyaṃ pāhuḥ ṣaḍarghyārhān

nṛpaṃ tathā||-Sabha Parva 36.23

[vi] Sabha Parva 37.29

[vii] Sanaka, Sanandana, Santkumara, Sanatsujata are the four Manasa Putras (Brhmaa’s sons) and known as Sanakasanandas.

[viii] nādatte kasyacitpāpaṃ na caiva sukṛtaṃ vibhu: |

ajñānenāvṛtaṃ jñānaṃ tena muhyanti jantava: ||- Gita 5.15

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