Historical Krishna Part 11 - Killing of Shishupala

By killing Jarasandha with the help of Bhima who was equal to him in strength, Krishna secured the safe execution of the Rajasuya for Yudhisthira. There was no further obstacle as most of the other kings were either friendly or indifferent to Pandavas performing Rajasuya. They were also afraid of the strength and power of the Pandavas, esp. of Bhima and Arjuna. So far so good. But then Shishupala played the spoilsport. That cousin of Sri Krishna had a major hatred against Krishna and he never lost on opportunity to display that. There are some myths regarding his birth, that he had extra organs which came off once Krishna took him in his lap and the oracle revealed that he would die in the hands of Krishna. So his mother extracted a promise that Krishna would forgive his sins. Krishna agreed to forgive his ninety nine omissions. However fantastic this tale is, there is probably one shade of truth, that Shishupala knew that Krishna was going to be his nemesis, like that of Kamsa. Therefore he hated Krishna with all his might. Krishna was perhaps waiting for an opportunity or perhaps he indeed committed to his aunt to ignore the many omissions of Shishupala, some of which he narrated publicly during that last encounter in Yudhisthira's yagna. However that day Shishupala exceeded his limit and went on lampooning Krishna in the harshest of the languages. The insults of Shishupala were interesting because they provided a validation of the several stories related to Krishna's childhood.  He did not even spare Bhishma. The old man had proposed Krishna's name as the person fittest to receive the arghya or offering. The Pandavas, esp. Bhima, and Sahadeva were very angry by the false accusations but they could not deter Shishupala unless Yudhisthira ordered them to do so. Yudhisthira was a Gandhivadi pacifist. So he would not. And Bhisma who could have easily punished Shishupala knew that his end had come in the hands of Krishna, so he simply digested the many insults hurled at him. Krishna displayed admirable restraint. He went on listening to the ramblings coming from one of his main adversaries who was also his cousin. He kept smiling, there was no anger, not even any impulse to justify himself. He knew what he had to do and he was prepared for that. The time had come to get rid of this pest. Not for the insults that he was hurling. But for the fact that he would probably align with Duryadhana in the great battle to fight against the Pandavas. Yudhisthira would need the Chedis beside him and Dhristaketu, son of Shishupala was in favour of the Pandavas and his daughter Karenumati was married to Nakula. Despite all these Shishupala would have fought against the Pandavas because Krishna would be with them. So he had to be killed, just as Sri Krishna got Jarasandha, Dantavakra, Paundraka and Ekalavya killed. The master strategist swung into action, with only the benefits of Pandavas in mind. His aim was to ensure a secure, united Bharatvarsha which Pandavas alone could give. He knew his task that could not be delegated. The most dramatic moment arrived and Shishupala was eliminated with the help of the unique sharp edged disc, the Sudarshana, that accomplishes its task and comes back to its possessor. All other antagonistic kings were shocked and thereafter there was no further disturbance to the yagna. Krishna thus established the superiority of Pandavas above everybody else and laid the foundation for a unified country which was to remain safe for thousands of years to come.