Shishupala: the Cursed!!! Or the Tolerant

SHISHUPALA: THE CURSED!!! OR THE TOLERANT

Abstract: The concept of curse and boon has been into the history since the advent of the civilization. The concepts like curse and boon itself are thought provoking and at times misleading. As we all know, curse is a kind of punishment that doesn’t involve any kind of mercy. It could be the worst form of irretrievable punishment. The word ‘curse’ has always made me think on the existence of mercy and love because psychologically it is proved that punishments and humiliation makes a man cruel and egoistic and also is the death of love, mercy and healthy living. It also makes me think whether there is any human being or a divine power or a person with supreme powers can bring in any kind of change in one’s life. A curse either acts as a blessing or a bane that alters your personality. If curses had to be feared and if they really had power to change a person’s destiny then what is the existence of divinity? The story of the curse is always tragic and doesn’t create any peace or harmony and a person who has the power of cursing someone can never be divine. This character Shishupala being one of the prominent characters of Kaliyuga, Mahabharata and the Hindu mythology represents a life of being cursed and punished for a wise man’s ego and doing his duty sincerely. This arises subtle questions like……. 1. What is the use of wisdom if one doesn’t control his or her anger? 2. What is the use of a curse that doesn’t teach you anything in the form of punishment? 3. Who judges whether the curse is fair or unfair? 4. Is curse humiliation rather than punishment? 5. Is curse giving birth to a rebellion? 6. What is the use of curse when it instills a poison tree deep down one’s heart and for several births? 7. If curse is powerful then why love God? While pondering on these thoughts, I came across the best example of victimization of a mythological character called as Shishupala.

A brief introduction to Shishupala – Shishupala was the son of Damaghosha, king of CHEDI, and Srutashrava, sister of VASUDEVA and KUNTI. He was also called Chaidya, being a member of Chedi kingdom. He and DANTAVAKRA are considered to be the third and last cursed incarnation of Vishnu's gatekeepers JAYA AND VIJAYA.

To answer the question like who are Jaya and Vijaya? Jaya and Vijaya are the gatekeepers of the abode of lord Vishnu. They are also ardent devotees of him.

Once the Manasaputras of Lord Brahma Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanatkumara visited the abode of Vishnu for his Darshan. One thing they all have in common is, they all look like children irrespective of their age due to the power of their Thapas.

Thinking that these four are children, Jaya and Vijaya block them at the entrance. They also tell the Kumaras that Shri Vishnu is resting and that they cannot see him now. The enraged Kumaras replied Jaya and Vijaya that Vishnu is available for his devotees any time, and cursed both the keepers Jaya and Vijaya, that they would have to give up their divinity, be born as mortals on Earth, and live like normal human beings.

The first part of the introduction somehow strikes to me that these Manasaputras are none other than traits like ego, jealousy, anger, intolerance because I staunchly feel that if the children of God are not merciful to the meek(weak) then who will enlighten the paths of the weaker section of the society to grow profoundly and believe in the mercy and love of God. To continue with the story….. Vishnu appeared before them, and the gatekeepers requested Vishnu to lift the curse of the Kumaras. Vishnu says curse of Kumaras cannot be reversed. Instead, he gives Jaya and Vijaya two options. The first option is to take seven births on Earth as a devotee of Vishnu, while the second is to take three births as his enemy. After serving either of these sentences, they can re-attain their stature at Vaikuntha and be with him permanently. Jaya and Vijaya cannot bear the thought of staying away from Vishnu for seven lives. As a result, they choose to be born three times on Earth even though it would have to be as enemies of Lord Vishnu.

In the first life they were born as Hiranyakashipu and Hiranyaksha in the Krita Yuga, to Diti (daughter of Daksha Prajapathi) and sage Kashyapa who were killed by Vishnu taking the form of Varaha, a boar and Narasimha, a man-lion in the Satya Yuga.

In their second life they were born as Ravana and Kumbhakarna and were killed by Vishnu who descended as Rama in the Treta Yuga.

And in their third life as Shishupala and Dantavakra who were killed by Vishnu who descended as Krishna in the Dwapara Yuga. There were absolutely no mercy shown to the gatekeepers who were doing their duty. As they were not shown mercy and the judgement was not fair they chose to be the rebellions of Lord Vishnu for the next three lives which is a clear cut movement of rebellion against the divine thought. Here in my opinion the Demons were more powerful than the Gods. I find the Demons to be the heroes and the victims of caste, religion and spirituality whereas the Gods have always been hyprocritic and unfair to the large masses and has only turned these masses into large number of slaves.

JETIR1810031 Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR) www.jetir.org 135

In the Mahabharata – The MAHABHARATA 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 not to do so, as his time had not come. It was also foretold that his extra eye and arms should disappear when a certain person took the child into his lap, and that he would eventually die by the hands of that same person. Coming to visit his cousin, Krishna placed the child on his lap and the extra eye and arms disappeared indicating Shishupala's death was destined at the hands of Krishna. Shishupala's mother was happy to see her son being cured but she was aware of what was foretold and she pleaded Krishna, her nephew to forgive her son for his mistakes. Krishna took a vow that he would pardon his cousin Shishupala for a hundred offenses and that he will kill him if he exceeds the limit. After I read the story the question that multiplies in my mind is when Krishna was Shishupala’s cousin, how can he be treated as God? And who gave him the permission to kill Shishupala and consider him as Demon when both were mortals? We don’t get any logical answers to these questions. Hence I feel that there is been lot of injustice in calling one a Demon and other a God. To continue with the story….. RUKMI, the prince of VIDARBHA, was very close to Shishupala. He wanted his sister RUKMINI to marry Shishupala. But before the ceremony could take place, Rukmini was carried away by Krishna (according to her wish). This made Shishupala hate Krishna and he always thought of ways and means to avenge his disgrace. When Krishna knew that Rukmini’s brother wanted Shishupala to marry Rukmini, then why did he eloped with Rukmini? Why didn’t he convinced Rukmini to be an ideal sister and wife whom she would marry as per the Hindu marriage rituals?

This makes us rethink on the validity of Krishna’s lordship. The unfair injust continues….. When YUDHISHTHIRA underwent the RAJASUYA Yagna, he sent BHIMA 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 their honored guest. At that time Shishupala insulted Krishna as a coward and worthless to be honoured as a king. At the same event, he committed his 100th sin and was pardoned by Krishna. On insulting him again, which was considered as the 101st sin, Krishna released his Sudarshana Chakra on him and killed him on the spot. In the last part of the analysis I find Shishupala to be the most strongest and brave one as he had the guts to question Krishna and his question was genuine. Finally the hypocritic and the unfair system wins in the name of God and religion.

JETIR1810031 Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR) www.jetir.org 136