Yudhishthir's Raajsooya Yagya and Shishupaal's Vadh

In Indraprasth, Yagyashaalaa (the place where the Yagya was to be done) was built, and the Yagya was started. Dhritraashtra came, then Krishn and Balaraam came. Shakuni, Duryodhan, Karn, Jayadrath, Vikarn, Sukarn, Drupad, Drone, Kripaa, Pitaamaha, Vyaas, Kuntee, Yudhishthir, Draupadee, Subhadraa, Naarad Jee all came. All kings came. All Rishi came to bless Yudhishthir. Naarad Jee was not seeing in present, he was seeing in future. He saw a sad Krishn; poor Yudhishthir who was going to be the cause of destruction of all Kshatriya; Draupadee and predictions about her; obstinate Duryodhan; crafty Shakuni; ill-fated Raadheya, the greatest giver of all times was to be killed at the hands of his own brother who did not know that to whom he was killing he was his brother; and many other kings and princes who will be going to die in near future.

Everybody was helping Yudhishthir in this Yagya in one way or other. Such as Bheem was looking after the kitchen, Draupadee was in charge of feeding women, Krishn took the responsibility to remove unclean utensils after the food was eaten and gave their unclean hands a wash by pouring water on them, Krishn asked Duryodhan to be the in charge of royal treasury and he was giving things with open hands. His eyes were wide open looking at the amount of riches in Yudhishthir's treasury. He felt envious.

Krishn, the Guest of Honor

The coronation was over. It was now the duty of the king to honor the guests. Bheeshm said addressing Yudhishthir - "My child, Today in your court the whole Bhaarat has come, so you honor all of them individually." Yudhishthir asked - "Pitaamaha, I am ignorant about these matters, please advise me whom should I worship first, Vyaas or you?" Bheeshm said - "Neither he, nor me. This time only one is to be worshipped first and that is Krishn. No other person is worthy for this honor. Without Him this hall will lose all its grandeur." Then Yudhishthir asked Sahadev to bring worshipping material. Sahadev brought the material and with tears streaming from his eyes he started washing Krishn's feet, flowers were offered, and the worship was over.

But some kings didn't like Krishn's worship as a guest of honor. They looked at each other but no one spoke anything. Then Shishupaal said - "Very nice indeed. Here is a bastard who is asking a son of a river for advice. And the advice is to worship a cowherd? The worship is done by another bastard." Yudhishthir said - "Krishn is the right person for it." Shishupaal further said - "When there are so many worthy people around, I cannot see any reason behind this insane action. We thought that you were a righteous person, that was why we came here to please you. It is not that we are not powerful to defy you, but because we respect you." All Paandav were ready to do something, but were just waiting for their elder brother's permission. Yudhishthir wanted to say something, that Krishn said - "Do not insult your guest, let him speak, let him speak today." Shishupaal continued speaking. When Balaraam warned him, Krishn said - "Keep speaking, you can still insult me for some more time. As you will complete your 100 abuses, I will kill you." Shishupaal didn't listen to Him and continued abusing Krishn.

Shishupaal's Vadh

Shishupaal further said - "If you wanted a very senior king, then Vasudev is here, your father-in-law Drupad is here. If you thought about your Aachaarya, then Guru Drone is here. If you wanted a high class Tapaswee, then Vyaas Jee is here. If you wanted to honor an archer, there is Eklavya. He is far better than your Arjun. There is Karn as the favorite disciple of Parashuraam. He is one of the few who has defeated Jaraasandh, which was impossible for your guest of honor. This man is neither your Guru, nor your dear son-in-law, nor your favorite. Have you asked us to attend this Yagya just to insult us? What ever Krishn has done so far, He has done by mere deceit. Your offering of the Agra Poojaa (first to be worshipped) to this cowherd is just foolish and senseless." And he got out of the hall.

Yudhishthir was not happy with this turn of events, he got up to pacify him - "You must not talk like this, Shishupaal. Everybody was in favor of my grandfather's advice. If I have hurt you, or insulted you, I am sorry. I did Krishn's Agra Poojaa because He is greater than anyone else for us present here." Bheeshm intervened - "Youdhishthir, Why do you speak so softly to this man who insulted Krishn? I cannot see anyone else who is worthy of this honor."

Shishupaal was very angry at this, even some other kings also were angry at this. All got ready with their swords. Yudhishthir got scared, he asked Bheeshm as what he should do, Bheeshm said - "There is no need to do anything." Shishupaal now started insulting Bheeshm. He insulted him about his vow, that he was a eunuch that is why he took that vow. Now Bheem couldn't be silent, he said to Bheeshm - "Pitaamah, This man has been insulting you both who are very dear to us, please give me the permission so that I can kill him." Bheeshm said - "Bheem, Do not worry at all. He has been destined to be killed by our Krishn and only Krishn. I tell you the story of Shishupaal and the prophecy about his killing by Krishn.

"Shishupaal is the son of Krishn's another Buaa, your mother's sister. When Shishupaal was born he had three eyes and four arms. His parents were scared to see him like this. Then they were told by Aakaashvaanee that as soon as the child will go into the lap of a man in whose lap his third eye and two extra arms will fall off, he will be the killer of him. The mother started to give him in everybody's lap. Once when Balraam and Krishn came to see the child, his mother kept him in their laps also. As soon as the child was put in Krishn's lap, his third eye and the two extra arms fell off. Shishupaal's mother was very sad to see this. She requested Krishn to spare her son. Krishn was also sorry for His Buaa. He said - "Don't worry, I will forgive him his 100 insults to me."

Time passed. The son of Bheeshmak, Rukmee was a great friend of Shishupaal. He wanted his loving sister Rukminee to marry to him, but Rukminee loved Krishn. On the day she was married to Shishupaal, Krishn took her away. Since that day Shishupaal has been nursing a grievance against Krishn. Shishupaal's 100 abuses have been exhausted long ago, now it is just any moment that Krishn will kill him."

Shishupaal's patience was now out of limits. He challenged Bheeshm and Krishn to fight with him. Now Krishn didn't want that Yudhishthir's Raajsooya Yagya gets spoiled with blood shed, so He was ignoring everything, but the challenge had to be accepted, so unwillingly He got ready to fight. Bheeshm led Him to His chariot. While going He said - "This man is the son of a woman from Vrishni Vansh, but he has been hating Vrishni people since the beginning. When I was out to Praagjyotishpur, he set the fire to Dwaarakaa. When my grandfather went to Raivatak Parvat, this man assaulted them. When my father sent the sacrificial horse, he captured it just to trouble us. He is the man who steals the wives of of others. My promise to his mother is over now. Jaraasandh was the enemy of Vrishni people that is why he became a good friend of Jaraasandh. I can kill him any time now as my promise to his mother is over. And now he has challenged me so I am ready to fight and get rid of this sinner."

The fight began. Most kings were stunned with this turn of event. The most unhappy person was Yudhishthir. He saw some evil omens, which Naarad told him as the sign of coming calamity. Krishn took out His Chakra and cut his head from his body. A light came out of Shishupaal's body and got absorbed in Krishn's body. Everybody was surprised to see this scene. Only Krishn was happy to do this and nobody else could know the reason of this happiness.

While handling His Divine Chakra with His mortal fingers, Krishn's finger got hurt and bled. Draupadee noticed it, she immediate got up from the throne, tore her royal dress and tied a string on His hurt finger. Krishn said - "Draupadee, Today I am indebted to you. When the time will come I will pay the price of every thread of this bandage. The whole world will not be able to evaluate its price ever."

Yudhishthir said - "Indraprasth has no motive to expand its borders, therefore Chedi king Shishupaal's Vadh does not mean that we want to take over Chedi kingdom. Shishupaal's son Maheepaal will be now Chedi king. His coronation will take place here only." And he coronated Maheepaal as the king of Chedi Desh.

Vyaas Jee said - "I came here only to share your happiness because nobody knows now that how, when and where you all will meet like this." Bheeshm asked - "Its meaning Rishivar?" Vyaas said - "Neither I will be happy to tell you, nor you will be happy to hear it. I can only say this that Soorya is Soorya and a lamp is lamp." Some people understood the meaning of his words, some not. Yudhishthir got blessings from everybody. He learned ethics from Vidur.

Karn was feeling very lonely. He was sorry for Shishupaal's killing. He was wondering that nobody spoke even a word of opposition in the gathering of so many brave people. Duryodhan was jealous and abusing Shakuni. He doubted that Paandav wanted Hastinaapur.

After the Raajsooya Yagya, Krishn came to see Kripaa before going to Dwaarakaa. Drupad came to Drone to get blessings of Drone for his son Dhrishtdyumn to achieve his life goal (killing of Drone) which he readily gave. Krishn also came to see Drone, then Drone expressed his dissatisfaction towards present circumstances and requested Vaasudev to do something for it." Krishn said - "An individual has to protect himself by himself. An individual should always be on truth's side." Bheeshm said - "Hey Krishn, Only you can save this family."

Krishn said - "Whatever situation is today, everybody is responsible for it." Then He said to  Bheeshm - "You should see that your vow is helping you in performing your Dharm or resisting you to perform your Dharm?" Then He said to Dhritraashtra - "You are a king, whatever is going to happen, try to stop it." After advising thus He went to Dwaarakaa.

Shakuni Maamaa, Dushaasan, Karn and Duryodhan stayed back for some more time. Shakuni was waiting for Krishn to go, because then only he could play his trick.