क्लीबे दारक्रिया यादृग् अन्धे वा रूपदर्शनम् ॥
अराज्ञो राजवत् पूजा तथा ते मधुसूदन ॥
दृष्टो युधिष्ठिरो राजा दृष्टो भीष्मश् च यादृशः ॥
वासुदेवो ऽप्य् अयं दृष्टः सर्वम् एतद् यथातथम् ॥
इत्य् उक्त्वा शिशुपालस् तान् उत्थाय परमासनात् ॥
निर्ययौ सदसस् तस्मात् सहितो राजभिस् तदा ॥
klībe dārakriyā yādṛg andhe vā rūpadarśanam ||
arājño rājavat pūjā tathā te madhusūdana ||
dṛṣṭo yudhiṣṭhiro rājā dṛṣṭo bhīṣmaś ca yādṛśaḥ ||
vāsudevo 'py ayaṃ dṛṣṭaḥ sarvam etad yathātatham ||
ity uktvā śiśupālas tān utthāya paramāsanāt ||
niryayau sadasas tasmāt sahito rājabhis tadā ||
"As marriage is for a eunuch, or the viewing of a form for a blind man, so is a royal honor for one who is not a king — such is yours, O Madhusudana. King Yudhishthira has been seen, and Bhishma has been seen, as he is, and this Vasudeva too has been seen — all this, as it truly is." Having said this, Shishupala rose from the high seat and went out from that assembly together with the kings.
1257b1df59c2 · published Jul 16, 2026, 3:40:27 PM UTC
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"All this has been seen, as it is" — boasts Shishupala, though it is precisely he who has seen nothing: before him stands Narayana Himself, and he perceives only a "non-king." This bitter self-exposure is telling: certain that he has seen through everyone, he is blinder than the blind man to whom he himself refers in mockery. His departure from the assembly is an image of self-banishment: pride leads the reviler away from the very center of the sacred, toward ruin. The verse teaches that the self-conceit of one who thinks he knows is the worst form of blindness; and whoever, failing to recognize the Lord, walks away from Him carries away not a victory but his own sentence. Thus does the envious man lead himself out beyond the saving circle.