Śiśupāla

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Śiśupāla. In the Mahābhārata and Purāṇas, Kṛṣṇa's evil cousin, king of the Cedis, destined to be killed by Kṛṣṇa. The story of the killing of Śiśupāla, later turned into a classical poem by Māgha, is told in full in book ii of the Mahābhārata. The Viṣṇu and Bhāgavata Purāṇas see Śiśupāla as a reincarnation of the earlier demons Hiraṇyakaśipu and Rāvaṇa, both of whom were pitted against incarnations of Viṣṇu.

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