Śiśupāla

views updated

Śiśupāla. In the Mahābhārata and Purāṇas, Kṛṣṇa's evil cousin, king of the Cedis, destined to be killed by Kṛṣṇa. The story of the killing of Śiśupāla, later turned into a classical poem by Māgha, is told in full in book ii of the Mahābhārata. The Viṣṇu and Bhāgavata Purāṇas see Śiśupāla as a reincarnation of the earlier demons Hiraṇyakaśipu and Rāvaṇa, both of whom were pitted against incarnations of Viṣṇu.