CENSURE OF SHISHUPAALA

SRIMAD MAHABHARATA > SABHA PARVA > ARGHYAHARANA PARVA > CHAPTER 36 - CENSURE OF SHISHUPAALA

“Shishupaala said ‘O you of the Kuru race (Yudhishthira), this one of the Vrishni race (Sri Krishna) does not deserve royal worship as if He were a king, in the middle of all these respected monarchs. O Paandavaa (Yudhishthira), this conduct of yours in thus willingly worshipping Him with eyes like lotus-petals (Sri Krishna) is not worthy of the illustrious Paandavaas. O Paandavaas, you are children, you know not what Dharma is, for that is very subtle (Sookshmaa in Sanskrit). Bhishma, this son also of Ganga, is of little knowledge and has violated the rules of Dharma (by giving you such advise). O Bhishma, if one like you, possessed of virtue and Dharma acts from motives of interest, he is deserving of condemnation among the honest and the wise. How does He of the Daashaarha race (Sri Krishna), who is not even a king, accept worship before these kings and how is it that He has been worshipped by you?

“O bull of the Kuru race (Yudhishthira), if you regard (Sri) Krishna as the oldest in age, here is Vasudeva (Sri Krishna’s father), and how can his son be said so in his presence? Or, if you regard Vaasudeva (Sri Krishna) as your well-wisher and supporter, here is (King) Drupada; how then can Maadhavaa deserve the (first) worship?

“Or, O son of Kuru (Yudhishthira), do you regard (Sri) Krishna as Aachaarya (Teacher)? When Drona is here, how have you worshipped Him of the Vrishni race (Sri Krishna)? Or, O son of Kuru (Yudhishthira), do you regarde (Sri) Krishna as the Ritwija? When old Dwaipaayana (Maharishi Vyasa) is here, how has (Sri) Krishna been worshipped by you? Again, when old Bhishma, the son of Shantanu, that foremost of men who is not to die expect at his own wish is here, why, O king (Yudhishthira), has (Sri) Krishna been worshipped by you? When the brave Ashwatthama, versed in every branch of knowledge is here, why, O king, has (Sri) Krishna, O you of the Kuru race (Yudhishthira), been worshipped by you? When that King of kings, Duryyodhana, that foremost of men, is here, as also Kripa the Aachaarya of the Bharata princes, why has (Sri) Krishna been worshipped by you? How, O Paandavaa (Yudhishthira), passing over Druma, the Aachaarya of the Kimpurushaas, have you worshipped (Sri) Krishna? When the invincible Bhishmaka and king Pandya possessed of every auspicious mark, and that foremost of kings – Rukmi, Ekalavya and Shalya, the king of the Madraas, are here, how, O Paandavaa (Yudhishthira), hast you offered the first worship to (Sri) Krishna? Also, here is Karna ever boasting of his strength among all kings, and (really) filled with great might (Bala in Sanskrit), the favourite disciple of the Brahmana Jamadagnya (Parashuraama), the hero (Veera in Sanskrit) who vanquished in battle all monarchs by his own strength alone. How, O Bharata (Yudhishthira), have you, passing him over, offered the first worship to (Sri) Krishna?

“Madhusoodana (Sri Krishna) is neither a Ritwija nor a Aachaarya nor a king. That you have notwithstanding all these worshipped Him, O chief of the Kurus (Yudhishthira), could only have been from motives of gain. If, O Bharata (Yudhishthira), it was your wish to offer the first worship to Madhusoodana (Sri Krishna), why were these monarchs brought here to be insulted thus? We have not paid tributes to the respected son of Kunti (Yudhishthira) from fear, from desire of gain, or from having been won over by peacemaking. On the other hand, we have paid him (Yudhishthira) tribute simply because he has been desirous of the imperial dignity (Samraada in Sanskrit) from motives of Dharma. Yet he it is that thus insults us.

“O king (Yudhishthira), from what else, except from motives of insult, could it have been that you have worshipped (Sri) Krishna, who does not possess the sign of royalty, with the Arghya in the middle of the assembled monarchs? Indeed, the reputation for Dharma that the son of Dharma (Yudhishthira) has acquired, has been acquired by him without cause, for who would offer such undue worship to one that has fallen off from Dharma. This wretch born in the race of the Vrishnis (Sri Krishna) unrighteously slew the illustrious king Jaraasandha some time back. Dharma has today been abandoned by Yudhishthira and meanness only has been displayed by him in consequence of his having offered the Arghya to (Sri) Krishna.

“If the helpless sons of Kunti were affrighted and disposed to meanness, You, O Maadhavaa (Sri Krishna), ought to have enlightened them as to your claims to the first worship. Why also, O Janaarddana (Sri Krishna), did You accept the worship of which You are unworthy, although it was offered to You by those mean-minded princes (Paandavaas)? You think much of the worship unworthily offered to You, like a dog that licks in isolation a quantity of clarified butter that it has obtained. O Janaarddana (Sri Krishna), this is really not the insult offered to the monarchs; on the other hand, it is You whom the Kurus have insulted. Indeed, O Madhusoodana (Sri Krishna), as a wife is to one that is without manly power (i.e. impotent), as a beautiful show is to one that is blind, so is this royal worship to You who art no king. What Yudhishthira is, has been seen; what Bhishma is, has been seen; and what this Vaasudeva (Sri Krishna) is has been seen. Indeed, all these have been seen as they are!’

“Vaishampaayana continued, ‘Having spoken these words, Shishupaala rose from his excellent seat, and accompanied by the kings, went out of that assembly.’”