At some point, Krishna got a little irritated and said, “This is uncalled-for.” Knowing who Krishna was, Shishupala’s mother begged him, “Promise me that you will never kill Shishupala,” to which he replied, “Even if he abuses me a hundred times, I will not kill him.” When Shishupala was young, out of pure arrogance, he abused Krishna. This was the greatest shame you could inflict on a Kshatriya.Īnd he did not kill Shishupala either, because he had made a promise to Shishupala’s mother, many years before. He disarmed Rukmi and shaved his head, his eyebrows, and his moustache, and sent him back. Krishna did not want to kill Rukmi because he was Rukmini’s brother. When Rukmi and Shishupala gave him chase, he trounced both of them. Krishna went to the swayamvara and abducted the princess. Krishna knew that she loved him, and he did not want Rukmi and Shishupala to set a precedent of conducting fake swayamvaras. Just hearing about Krishna, she fell in love with him. One important incident occurred when Shishupala was set to marry Rukmini.īut Rukmini was in love with Krishna, whom she had not even seen. There had been a string of problems with Shishupala in the past. They chose to do a swayamvara to satisfy everyone and use it to forge a strategic alliance. But they set up a fake swayamvara, in which Rukmini’s brother had already made the choice. In a swayamvara, the girl is supposed to choose her groom. Instead of simply conducting a marriage, they called for a swayamvara. Rukmini’s brother Rukmi promised Shishupala, who was his friend, that he would give his sister in marriage to Shishupala. One important incident occurred when Shishupala was set to marry Rukmini. He was known as the “Bull of Chedi,” because he was an extraordinarily large man. So, naturally he must be the guest of honor.” The moment he said this, Shishupala, Krishna’s cousin, stood up in a rage. To my mind, it is you, but I leave it to you to decide who should be the guest of honor.”īhishma said, “Of all the men who are here, I may be the eldest, but the greatest is definitely Krishna, because he is more than a man.
Yudhishthira prostrated in front of Bhishma, who was the most senior one there, and said, “Pitama, you must tell me who should be the guest of honor.
One person was supposed to be the guest of honor at the yagna.
Sadhguru: Everyone assembled in Indraprastha for the Rajasuya Yagna, including Duryodhana and his clan.