Study a Verse

• Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains the Lord’s action as follows: If Lord Kṛṣṇa had done nothing, there probably would have been a savage fight on the sacrificial grounds, and thus the whole ceremony would have been drenched in blood, spoiling the sanctified atmosphere.
• Therefore, in order to protect the Rājasūya sacrifice of Kṛṣṇa’s beloved devotee Yudhiṣṭhira, the Lord immediately severed Śiśupāla’s head with His razor-sharp disc in such a way that not a drop of blood fell within the sacrificial grounds.

The purport's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

War and pride → Justice and protection. The public expression of divine power comes to the foreground.

Chapters 70–79 of Canto 10: Kingship, Jarāsandha and royal challenges. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 74: The Deliverance of Śiśupāla at the Rājasūya Sacrifice

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Lord Kṛṣṇa stopped them from attacking, however, and instead used His Sudarśana disc to decapitate the offender. At that moment an effulgent spark of light rose out of Śiśupāla’s dead body and entered the transcendental body of Lord Kṛṣṇa.