Shishupala is the son
of the king of Cedi in the Mahabharata, the second of the two major Hindu
epics.
He is also depicted as a reincarnation of Jaya, who was
cursed by the sages to be born three times as a demon and murdered by the deity
Vishnu each time.
Jaya was one of the guardians of the god Vishnu's celestial
residence, Vaikuntha.
Shishupala is born with three eyes and four hands, but just
as his parents are preparing to abort him, a divine voice tells them that the
boy would grow up to be a powerful king.
Shishupala's third eye will vanish when he sees that person,
and two of his hands will vanish when that person puts him on his lap,
according to the heavenly voice.
After a while, the deity Krishna comes to Cedi, and when the
symptoms appear as predicted, Shishupala's parents realize that Krishna is the
only one who can kill their son.
Krishna's aunt is Shishupala's mother, and when she begs him
not to murder her son, Krishna swears to forgive Shishupala a hundred times
over.
Krishna keeps his promise, but such tolerance only
encourages Shish upala to become more rash, and after the hundredth insult,
Krishna throws his discus and slashes Shishupala's head off.
