वैशंपायन उवाच
ततः श्रुत्वैव भीष्मस्य चेदिराड् उरुविक्रमः ॥
युयुत्सुर् वासुदेवेन वासुदेवम् उवाच ह ॥
आह्वये त्वां रणं गच्छ मया सार्धं जनार्दन ॥
यावद् अद्य निहन्मि त्वां सहितं सर्वपाण्डवैः ॥
सह त्वया हि मे वध्याः पाण्डवाः कृष्ण सर्वथा ॥
नृपतीन् समतिक्रम्य यैर् अराजा त्वम् अर्चितः ॥
ये त्वां दासम् अराजानं बाल्याद् अर्चन्ति दुर्मतिम् ॥
अनर्हम् अर्हवत् कृष्ण वध्यास् त इति मे मतिः ॥
इत्य् उक्त्वा राजशार्दूलस् तस्थौ गर्जन्न् अमर्षणः ॥
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca
tataḥ śrutvaiva bhīṣmasya cedirāḍ uruvikramaḥ ||
yuyutsur vāsudevena vāsudevam uvāca ha ||
āhvaye tvāṃ raṇaṃ gaccha mayā sārdhaṃ janārdana ||
yāvad adya nihanmi tvāṃ sahitaṃ sarvapāṇḍavaiḥ ||
saha tvayā hi me vadhyāḥ pāṇḍavāḥ kṛṣṇa sarvathā ||
nṛpatīn samatikramya yair arājā tvam arcitaḥ ||
ye tvāṃ dāsam arājānaṃ bālyād arcanti durmatim ||
anarham arhavat kṛṣṇa vadhyās ta iti me matiḥ ||
ity uktvā rājaśārdūlas tasthau garjann amarṣaṇaḥ ||
Then, having heard Bhishma's words, the mighty Chedi-king, wishing to fight with Vasudeva, said to him: "I challenge you; go to battle with me, O Janardana, until this day I slay you together with all the Pandavas. For together with you the Pandavas are wholly subject to death by my hand, O Krishna, since through them, bypassing the true kings, you, a non-king, have been honored. And whoever, out of childish folly, honors you — a slave, a non-king, evil-minded, unworthy — as if you were worthy, they, in my judgment, deserve death."
440488d29018 · published Jul 16, 2026, 3:49:21 PM UTC
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Having reached the last extreme, Shishupala challenges the Lord Himself to battle and condemns to death all who revere Him. It is telling that enmity toward God is never content with mere slander — it thirsts to destroy His worshippers as well. The verse teaches that hatred of the Supreme is by its very nature all-consuming: one who rejects the Lord rejects also those who love Him, the sacred itself, and the very order of worship. And the challenge flung at Krishna — "come to battle" — is the last madness of the doomed: to call to a duel the One in whose hand his own life rests. He who throws down the gauntlet before God does not know that he is not challenging an adversary, but summoning his own inescapable hour.