Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.74.46
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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janma - traya
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extending through three births
Compound: janma (birth) + traya (three). The exact arc of the Jaya-Vijaya curse. Gauḍīyas: the three lives are pre-counted; bhakti's grammar is shorter (one body, this body), while vaira's is longer (three asura-bodies).
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vaira
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enmity
From √vid (to feel). Settled, deliberate enmity — not casual anger. Gauḍīyas: vaira-bhakti is recognised as a category in SB 7.1; Nārada to Yudhiṣṭhira: kāmād dveṣād bhayāt snehāt — by lust, hatred, fear, or affection, all reach Him. This verse is one of the canonical examples.
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dhyāyan
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meditating
Present participle of √dhyai (to meditate). The Bhāgavatam frames Śiśupāla's life as dhyāna — uninterrupted attention. Gauḍīyas note: object of dhyāna matters more than mood of dhyāna. Object: Kṛṣṇa; mood: hate; result: tan-mayatā.
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tat - mayatām
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oneness with Him
Compound: tat (Him) + mayatā (state-of-being-made-of). The technical Sanskrit for sāyujya — being made of Him. Gauḍīyas: not the goal of bhakti (bhaktas refuse it; cf. SB 3.29.13), but here the natural terminus of vaira-dhyāna.
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bhāvaḥ
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one's attitude, the inner state
From √bhū (to be). The interior orientation. Gauḍīya rasa-śāstra (Rūpa Gosvāmī, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu) builds on this word as the seed of rasa. The verse's final word — bhava-kāraṇam — bhāva is what causes the next bhava (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. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains the position of Śiśupāla as follows: “Although Śiśupāla acted as the enemy of Kṛṣṇa, he was not for a single moment out of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He was always absorbed in thought of Kṛṣṇa, and thus he got the salvation of sāyujya-mukti, merging into the existence of the Supreme, and finally became reinstated in his original position of personal service. The Bhagavad-gītā corroborates the fact that one who is absorbed in the thought of the Supreme Lord at the time of death immediately enters the kingdom of God after quitting his material body.” The Third and Seventh cantos of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam elaborately describe the incident wherein the Lord’s personal associates were cursed to come to the material world as His enemies. In this connection, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī quotes the following verse ( Bhāg. 7.1.47 ): vairānubandha-tīvreṇa dhyānenācyuta-sātmatām nītau punar hareḥ pārśvaṁ jagmatur viṣṇu-pārṣadau “These two associates of Lord Viṣṇu — Jaya and Vijaya — maintained a feeling of enmity for a very long time. Because of always thinking of Kṛṣṇa in this way, they regained the shelter of the Lord, having returned home, back to Godhead.”
By absorbing his thoughts in enmity to the Lord for three births, he attained a similar form as the Lord. That means that he again attained his position as an associate of the Lord. The reason is given: thoughts (bhava) are the cause of attainment (bhavasya karanam) of the next body. (bhu =bhava means attainment). It is said, "vairanubandha tivrena dhyanenacyuta satmatam nitau punar hareh parsvam jagmutur visnu parsvadau. These two associates of Lord Visnu—Jaya and Vijaya—maintained a feeling of enmity for a very long time. Because of always thinking of Krsna in this way, they regained the shelter of the Lord, having returned home, back to Godhead. 7.1.47
Entering the Lord, Śiśupāla attained a form like the Lord’s. The example of the insect trapped by the wasp should be remembered. By what type of intelligence did this happen? He was absorbed in hatred for three lifetimes. The impressions of his situation as an associate of the Lord (bhāvaḥ) gave this result. This remained deep within him, since the external consciousness as a demon was a superimposition. The details of Dantavakra are given by Śrīdhara Svāmī. Though he entered the Lord, since the Lord’s associates merge with him when he appears in this world, he would attain his spiritual body at the proper time. At the end of the prakaṭa pastimes, the aṁśas depart for their abodes. He had attained an external form in order to become the Lord’s associate. vairānubandha-tīvreṇa dhyānenācyuta-sātmatām nītau punar hareḥ pārśvaṁ jagmatur viṣṇu-pārṣadau These two associates of Lord Viṣṇu—Jaya and Vijaya—maintained a feeling of enmity for a very long time. Because of always thinking of Kṛṣṇa in this way, they regained the shelter of the Lord. SB 7.1.47
Because there is little difference between the associate and the Lord or to indicate that the body was eternity, knowledge and bliss, the words tan-māyātām (becoming one with) are used. Or meditating on the Lord he attained a similar nature. “Since he meditated with hatred, he should not become an associate again.” This was because (hi) his previous bhakti as an associate (bhāvaḥ) was the cause of the best result (bhava-kāraṇam), being an associate. By the will of the Lord, by the curse of the brāhmaṇas, there was an imitation of hatred but actually he meditated as a devotee.
If you stare without blinking at a single face for three lives — even with hatred — that face becomes your interior. Vaira-yoga is the asura's accidental dhyāna: Śiśupāla meditated on Kṛṣṇa without interruption, and bhāva itself became the cause of his next birth, which was no birth at all.
SB 10.2 describes how Kaṁsa thought of Kṛṣṇa at every moment — eating, sleeping, walking — out of fear. Śukadeva there comments that this constant remembrance, though motivated by terror, purified him. He too was liberated when the Lord killed him.
The pattern Śiśupāla completes here is Kaṁsa's writ large across lifetimes. Gauḍīyas distinguish this dveṣa-bhakti sharply from prema-bhakti: it works, but it costs three asura-births and yields only sāyujya, not the personal service that prema yields.
My note
Source: vedabase.io