Shloka 25
सभा पर्व, अध्याय ३७ — युधिष्ठिरस्य भीष्मोपदेशः
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Consultation and Bhīṣma’s Counsel in the Assembly
यदि भीताश्न कौन्तेया: कृपणाश्न॒ तपस्विन: । ननु त्वयापि बोद्धव्यं यां पूजां माधवाहसि,(अब शिशुपालने भगवान् श्रीकृष्णको देखकर कहा--) माधव! कुन्तीके पुत्र डरपोक, कायर और तपस्वी हैं। इन्होंने तुम्हें ठीक-ठीक न जानकर यदि तुम्हारी पूजा कर दी तो तुम्हें तो समझना चाहिये था कि तुम किस पूजाके अधिकारी हो?
yadi bhītāś ca kaunteyāḥ kṛpaṇāś ca tapasvinaḥ | nanu tvayāpi boddhavyaṃ yāṃ pūjāṃ mādhavāharasi ||
Śiśupāla said: “If the sons of Kuntī are fearful, weak-spirited, and given to austerity, then even so, O Mādhava, you too ought to have understood what sort of worship you were truly fit to receive. If, not knowing you rightly, they offered you honor, it was for you to discern whether such honor was appropriate.”
शिशुपाल उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a polemical ethical claim about honor: Śiśupāla argues that worship should match the recipient’s true worth and that a discerning person should not accept misplaced honor. In context, it functions as an example of how pride and hostility can distort moral reasoning, turning ‘discernment’ into a weapon of insult.
During the royal assembly connected with Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rājasūya, Kṛṣṇa is honored. Śiśupāla, enraged, publicly attacks Kṛṣṇa and derides the Pāṇḍavas as fearful and weak, claiming their worship is ignorant and that Kṛṣṇa should have recognized he was not worthy of such honor.