Literature of antiquity and the Middle Ages - Summary - 2019

Killing Sisupala
Magha (second half of the VII century)

In Dvarak, the capital of the genus of jadid, is the divine sage of Narada and conveys to Krishna, the leader of the jadas and the earthly incarnation of God Visnu, a message from the king of the gods of Indra asking him to crush the king of the country, Chedi Shishupala, who by his evil deeds and intentions threatens gods and people. Kṛṣṇa's brother, the passionate Badarama, offers to immediately attack Shishupala. But the wise counselor of Uddhava's poetry, a connoisseur of politics, advises Krsna to be restrained and wait for a suitable occasion for the beginning of the war. Such an occasion eventually appears when Krsna receives an invitation to visit the newly built capital of the Pandavas, Indraprashu, where the coronation of the elder among the Pandas brothers Yudhisthira should take place.

At the head of a large army, Krishna speaks out of Dvaraka in Indraprash. He is accompanied by vassal kings and queens, hanging in luxurious palanquins, courtiers on horses and donkeys, lots of heters, dancers, musicians and ordinary townspeople. The army runs along the shore of the ocean, caressing the beautiful Dvarak, like its bride, and at the foot of Mount Rivataka, on one side of which sits the sun, and on the other a month goes back, making it look like an elephant, with two dazzling bells dangling on its back, stops at rest And when the sun drops into the ocean, warriors and courtiers, noble women and common people, as if imitating it, make an evening wash. The night comes, which became for everyone who was in the camp of jerries, at night of love affairs and refined passionate pleasures.

The next morning the troops cross the Yamuna River, and soon the streets of Indralustha fill the enthusiastic crowd of women who came to admire the beauty and majesty of Krsna. Pandavas are greeted with respect in the palace, and then comes the time of the solemn coronation of Yudhisthira, where kings are present from all over the earth, among them the king of Shisupala. After the coronation, each guest should be given an honorary gift. The first and best gift of the grandfather of the pandas - the just and wise Bhishma proposes to bring Krishna. However, just for this gift, Shishupala is claiming hilariousness. He accuses Krishna of a thousand sins and crimes, among which he calls, in particular, the abduction of his bride Rukmini by Krishna, smashes the leader of the poison with daring insults and finally sends him and his army a challenge to the battle. Now Krishna gets the moral right to fulfill Indra's request: not him, but Shisupala was the instigator of the quarrel. In the subsequent battle, the poisons are victorious over the Chedi army, and Krsna, at the end of the battle, drives Shizupale's head into his combat disk.