Sopala - (Wayang Kulit)

Title	Sopala - (Prabu) - Mahabharata
Other names	Supala, Sisupala, Gandara
Size	55 cm
Personal data	Arya Sopala is the son of Prabu Damagosa with his consort Dewi Sruta, the eldest daughter of Prabu Kuntiboja. Sisupala was born with an abnormal body. He was born with three eyes, one of which was located on his forehead. In addition, both of his legs were weak like snakes, as if without bones. Sopala, also called Sisupala or Supala, was the king of Cedi. He inherited the throne from his father, Prabu Damagosa. Later he was healed by Kresna. Sopala was the father of Gandari and Sangkuni.
Appearance	Supala's character was; arrogant, hard-hearted, eloquent and always followed his heart. He is very combative.
Collection	Private collection

Sopala – (Prabu) – Mahabharata

The disability suffered by Sisupala was the result of the curse of Resi Hudaya. When Dewi Sruta was still a teenager, she had a shameful hobby, namely peeping at men who were bathing. One day Begawan Hudaya was bathing in a lake. While he was enjoying the fresh water of the lake, he was surprised to see something that looked like a snake touching his feet. Without thinking, the hermit jumped out of the water. It turned out that what touched his feet was a large eel. At that time without clothes, he heard someone laughing at him, so the hermit knew he was being spied on, especially since the eel that was stuck to his body was clearly visible... the eel was so stubby, it would have been better if it was long.

Angrily, Begawan Hudaya then issued his curse: "Whoever peeps at me, be it male or female, will later have a child with three eyes because those eyes like to peep and their legs are like snakes because they come silently without a sound." How shocked Begawan Hudaya was when he found out that the one who peeped at him was Dewi Sruta, the eldest daughter of the Cedi king whom he greatly respected. However, the curse had been uttered and could not be undone. The apology uttered by the daughter of the Mandura king could not erase the curse.

Sisupala's condition was very concerning to Prabu Damagosa. Therefore, the King intended to throw his baby into the forest. However, before carrying out that intention, the Cedi king went first to Sanggar Pamujan, to meditate, asking for guidance from the gods. In his meditation, Prabu Damagosa received a revelation stating that his son's disability would be cured instantly if he was held by someone who was an incarnation of Batara Wisnu. However, the revelation also stated that the person who cured his disability would also kill Sisupala. However, in the revelation, Prabu Damagosa was not told who was the incarnation of Wisnu.

To find an incarnation of Wisnu who could cure his son's disability, at the selapanan event (the 35th day of a baby's birth) Prabu Damagosa invited dozens of kings and their sons. One by one, the invited guests were invited to hold his son. However, after all the guests had held the baby, it turned out that baby Sisupala did not recover. His eyes remained three, and his legs were weak and boneless like a snake's body. However, it turned out that none of the invited guests were an incarnation of Wisnu.

When Prabu Damagosa and Dewi Sruta were sad, their nephews, Kakrasana and Narayana (Krisna), came. The two teenagers were the sons of Pabu Vasudewa, the king of Mandura, namely Dewi Sruta's younger brother. When he saw the strange baby, Narayana asked permission to hold him. A miracle happened.

Unexpectedly, as soon as baby Sisupala was in Narayana's lap, the baby's third eye disappeared and his legs became perfect instantly. Prabu Damagosa and Dewi Sruta were extremely happy. But suddenly Dewi Sruta remembered the whisper of the god who said that Sisupala's death would be in the hands of the person who healed his disability. If so, it means that her child's death is in Narayana's hands.
Therefore, Dewi Sruta and Prabu Damagosa immediately asked Narayana that if Sisupala made a mistake in the future, Narayana would forgive him. At that time Narayana answered that he was able to forgive Sisupala's mistakes up to a hundred times. However, if the mistake was made by Sisupala in front of more than a hundred kings, Narayana could not forgive him.

Sisupala not only recovered, but grew into a brave and powerful man, then ascended the throne as king of Cedi, after his father died.
Since childhood, Sisupala was educated by Jarasanda , the King of Magadha . He studied with Dantawaktra , and was taught to hate Krishna. When they reached adulthood, Sisupala and Dantawaktra grew into formidable fighters. With the strength of the two young men, Jarasanda, who hated Krishna, tried to invade Mathura. Jarasanda's efforts were successful, and Sisupala loyally served Jarasanda.

When Princess Rukmini of the Widarbha kingdom was looking for a husband, Sisupala intended to propose to her. He arrived on time at the promised place to propose to the princess. However, the event was canceled because Krishna had already run away with Rukmini before Sisupala arrived in the Widarbha kingdom. This made Sisupala angry and hated Krishna even more.
At that time Dewi Sruta managed to suppress her son's anger, so that Sisupala would not make a mistake with Kresna.

However, apparently Sisupala's fate was to die at the hands of the incarnation of Vishnu. When attending the Sesaji Rajasuya ceremony, which was held by Prabu Puntadewa, Prabu Sisupala protested when Nakula served the first drink to Prabu Kresna. He considered serving the first drink to Prabu Kresna completely inappropriate, because Kresna was not the oldest king in age, and the Dwarawati Kingdom was not the largest kingdom, nor was it the most extensive in territory. It should have been. It is not Krishna who deserves this honor, and Krishna should also know himself and reject excessive honor, he said.

Sisupala's protest was denied by Resi Bisma who was present at the ceremony. The elder from Astma considered the honor of receiving the meal as something that Kresna deserved.
Resi Bisma's reasons and denials actually made Prabu Sisupala even more angry. With a loud voice he then cursed, insulted and humiliated Prabu Kresna.

At first Prabu Kresna tried to be patient. Because after all Sisupala was his own cousin, because the king of Cedi was the only son of Dewi Sruta. In fact Dewi Sruta was Prahu Basudewa's older sister, Kresna's father. Moreover, he had promised Dewi Sruta, that he would always forgive all of Sisupala's mistakes towards him. However, if the mistake was repeated a hundred times, or he was insulted in front of a crowd of more than 100 people, Prabu Kresna could no longer forgive him.

And now, Prabu Sisupala has insulted him in front of more than 100 kings who attended the ceremony. So, Kresna calmly challenged Sisupala to compete in a magical contest outside the palace. Sisupala happily accepted this challenge, and as a result, Sisupala's neck was cut off by the Cakra weapon.

Sisupala is a name contained in the Mahabarata Book. This name Supala is also widely used by puppeteers of Wayang Kulit Purwa, especially in Java. However, in the Hariwangsa Book written by Empu Panuluh, Sisupala is also called Prabu Cediya which means king of Cedi; while in the Kresnayana Book, he is called Prabu Suniti.

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Source: wayangprabu.wordpress.com - 2012