Shishupala

In the Mahabharata, the later of the two
great Hindu epics, Shishupala is the son
of the king of Cedi. He is also described
as a reincarnation of Jaya—one of the
gatekeepers of the god Vishnu’s heavenly
dwelling, Vaikuntha—who has been
cursed by the sages to be born three
times as a demon and killed by the god
Vishnu each time. Shishupala is born
with three eyes and four hands, but as
his horrified parents are about to abandon him, a celestial voice informs them
that the child will grow up into a powerful king. The heavenly voice also says
that Shishupala can be killed by only
one person on earth, that Shishupala’s
third eye will disappear when he sees
that person, and that two of his hands
will disappear when the person takes
him in his lap. After some time the god
Krishna pays a visit to Cedi, and when
the signs take place as foretold,
Shishupala’s parents know that Krishna
is the only person who can kill their son.
Shishupala’s mother is Krishna’s aunt,
and when she begs him not to kill her
son, Krishna promises to forgive
Shishupala’s misdeeds one hundred
times. Krishna sticks to his word, but
such forbearance only makes Shishupala more reckless, and after the one
hundred and first insult, Krishna
throws his discus and cuts off
Shishupala’s head.