Shloka 46
Rājasūya: Agrapūjā for Kṛṣṇa and the Slaying (and Liberation) of Śiśupāla
जन्मत्रयानुगुणितवैरसंरब्धया धिया । ध्यायंस्तन्मयतां यातो भावो हि भवकारणम् ॥ ४६ ॥
janma-trayānuguṇita- vaira-saṁrabdhayā dhiyā dhyāyaṁs tan-mayatāṁ yāto bhāvo hi bhava-kāraṇam
Absorbed in hatred of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa through three lifetimes, Śiśupāla attained the Lord’s transcendental nature; for one’s inner consciousness is indeed the cause of one’s future birth.
Śiśupāla and his friend Dantavakra, who will be killed by Kṛṣṇa in Chapter Seventy-eight, were previously Jaya and Vijaya, two gatekeepers in Vaikuṇṭha. Because of an offense, the four Kumāras cursed them to take three births in the material world as demons. The first birth was as Hiraṇyākṣa and Hiraṇyakaśipu, the second as Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa, and the third as Śiśupāla and Dantavakra. In each birth they were completely absorbed in enmity toward the Lord and were slain by Him.
FAQs
This verse explains that Śiśupāla, though hostile, constantly meditated on Kṛṣṇa with an enmity sustained across three births, and that continuous absorption (tan-mayatā) led him to the Lord’s state—showing that intense, uninterrupted remembrance can result in liberation.
Here bhāva means one’s dominant inner disposition or consciousness, and it is said to be the cause of one’s future becoming—i.e., the next destination or birth is shaped by the mind’s deepest fixation.
Cultivate steady remembrance of Kṛṣṇa through regular hearing/reading, chanting His names, and aligning daily choices with devotion—because sustained mental focus gradually molds one’s bhāva and therefore one’s future direction.