Shrutashrava, a noble woman, was wed to Damaghosha, the king of Chedi. In their union, a son was born—Shishupala. Yet, Shishupala’s story is woven through many lifetimes, for in a previous birth he was none other than Hiranyakashipu, the mighty and illustrious leader of the Daityas. This formidable being was slain by the Lord, the universal teacher, who manifested as Narasimha to restore balance. After that, Hiranyakashipu, endowed with limitless strength, heroism, prosperity, and valor—possessing the combined power of all the rulers of the three worlds—was reborn as Dashanana, famed as Ravana. He lived through many ages, enjoying pleasures surpassing even those of the immortals, until he fell in battle at the hands of the Lord incarnate as Raghava, the son of Dasharatha. Through this, he attained the fruit of his accumulated merit. Yet again, he returned as Shishupala, the son of Damaghosha, king of Chedi. Even in this birth, Shishupala harbored fierce enmity toward the Lord, who had descended as Pundarikanayana—Krishna—to relieve the earth’s burden. Ultimately, the Blessed Lord brought Shishupala’s life to an end. But through the intense focus of his mind upon the Supreme Self, Shishupala attained union with Him. Such is the Lord’s grace: when pleased, He grants whatever is desired, and even when confronting an enemy and slaying him, He bestows a divine and incomparable state. Maitreya, the sage, was moved by curiosity and asked, “In the forms of Hiranyakashipu and Ravana, though slain by Vishnu, he enjoyed pleasures beyond those of the immortals. Yet, he did not attain dissolution then. How did he, as Shishupala, finally obtain eternal union with Hari? Please explain this, O best of those upholding dharma.” Sri Parashara replied: “For the destruction of the Daitya lord, the Supreme manifested as Narasimha, a form that creates, sustains, and dissolves the worlds. But Hiranyakashipu did not recognize Narasimha as Vishnu. He believed this being arose from an unsurpassed accumulation of merit. With a mind sharpened by passion and contemplation, he was reborn as Dashanana (Ravana), enjoying supreme prosperity across the three worlds, a result of the cause of his death. Yet, his mind did not dissolve in the Lord, who is the beginningless and endless Supreme Brahman, unattached to all. As Dashanana, his mind was captive to desire and attached to Janaki (Sita). When slain by the Lord as the son of Dasharatha, his perception was limited to that form; he had no attachment to the imperishable one, his inner mind clouded by merely human understanding. As the fruit of falling by the hand of the Imperishable, he was born in the illustrious royal line of Chedi, praised throughout the world, and as Shishupala, he enjoyed unobstructed sovereignty. There, he became the cause of uttering the Lord’s names. Due to enmity accumulated over many births, his mind was bound to reviling and threatening the Lord’s names, uttering them constantly in censure and anger—a habit rooted in previous lives. The Lord’s form—resplendent, with eyes like fully blossomed lotus petals, adorned in brilliant yellow garments, a spotless crown, armlets, necklaces, bracelets, noble and four-armed, bearing conch, discus, and mace—because of Shishupala’s deeply rooted enmity, was ever-present in his mind, whether walking, eating, bathing, sitting, lying down, or otherwise. Thus, constantly uttering the Lord’s name in abuse, yet holding Him in his heart, Shishupala beheld the Lord in all circumstances. When the Lord appeared before him for his destruction, radiant with the rays of the discus, inexhaustible in splendor, the embodiment of Brahman, free from faults such as enmity, Shishupala was swiftly slain by the Lord’s discus. All his accumulated sins were burned away by remembrance of the Lord, and he was brought to the Lord, finally attaining dissolution. All this, Parashara declared to Maitreya. “Indeed, when the Blessed Lord is praised or even remembered, even with feelings of enmity, He grants rewards exceedingly rare and difficult for gods and demons to obtain—how much more so for one who possesses true devotion!” Turning to another lineage, Vasudeva, son of Anakadundubhi, had many wives, chief among them Devaki, Rohini, Madira, Bhadra, and others. From Rohini, Vasudeva begot sons such as Balabhadra (Balarama), Shatha, Sarana, Durmada, and others. Baladeva also had two sons, Vishatha and Ulmuka, through Revati. Sarana’s sons were Sarshti, Marshti, Shishu, Satya, Satyadhriti, and others. From Rohini were born noble sons Bhadrashva, Bhadrabahu, Durdama, and more. From Madira came Nanda, Upananda, Krtaka. From Bhadra came Upanidhi and Gada. In Vaishali, Vasudeva had only one son, Kaushika. From Devaki, Vasudeva had six sons: Kirtiman, Sushena, Udayu, Bhadrasena, Rjudasa, and Bhadradeva. All were slain by Kamsa. Then, at midnight, the divine sleep sent by the Lord transferred the seventh embryo from Devaki’s womb to Rohini’s. Because he was drawn forth (karshana), he became known as Sankarshana (Balarama). Finally, the Lord Vasudeva—root of the great tree of the universe, beyond the perception of gods, demons, sages, and even the minds of beings past, present, and future—worshipped by Brahma and other gods led by Agni to relieve the burden of the earth, descended into the womb of Devaki. He, who has neither beginning, middle, nor end, took birth for the welfare of all worlds.