The Most Honoured Guest at the Rajasooya

The first ritual at Rajasooya was to honour one among the assembled as the most important personality. Bheeshma asked Yudhishthira to choose one whom he considered to be the most respected. The Pandava wanted to know Bheeshma’s view on this.

A vote for Krishna

Bheeshma had no hesitation to propose Krishna for the honour. Yudhishthira was very happy with the idea. He asked Sahadeva, accordingly, to give the central seat to Krishna and worship him as per the custom followed in Rajasooyam.

Sisupala objects

Sisupala, the king of Chedi, was furious by the choice. He thought that there were many eminent kings in the assembly and one among them would have been a better choice. He did not even consider Krishna worthy to be a king. Sisupala ridiculed Bheeshma for making an improper suggestion and Yudhishthira for thoughtlessly accepting it. He also made fun of Sahadeva for blindly performing an ill advised course of action.
But, Bheeshma firmly defended his position and narrated all the heroic deeds of Krishna. Sahadeva took Sisupala’s objection as an insult and suggested that those who did not like Krishna being honoured were welcome to leave the place. These words from the youngest of Pandavas angered the king of Chedi even further. Sisupala asked all those who were assembled to disrupt the proceedings of Rajasooya. Quite a few joined hands with him and rose in revolt.

(With this ends the chapter of “Objection to the choice of VIP or Arghyabhiharana Parvam”)