Lord Kṛṣṇa's causeless mercy was exhibited in the great assembly of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. He was merciful even to His enemy the King of Cedi, who always tried to be an envious rival of the Lord. Because it is not possible to be a bona fide rival of the Lord, the King of Cedi was extremely malicious toward Lord Kṛṣṇa. In this he was like many other asuras, such as Kaṁsa and Jarāsandha. In the open assembly of the rājasūya sacrifice performed by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, Śiśupāla insulted Lord Kṛṣṇa, and he was finally killed by the Lord. But it was seen by everyone in the assembly that a light flashed out of the body of the King of Cedi and merged into the body of Lord Kṛṣṇa. This means that Cedirāja achieved the salvation of attaining oneness with the Supreme, which is a perfection most desired by the jñānīs and yogīs and for which they execute their different types of transcendental activities.
It is a fact that persons who are trying to understand the Supreme Truth by their personal endeavors of mental speculation or mystic powers of yoga achieve the same goal as others who are personally killed by the Lord. Both achieve the salvation of merging in the brahmajyoti rays of the transcendental body of the Lord. The Lord was merciful even to His enemy, and the success of the King of Cedi was observed by everyone who was present in the assembly. Vidura was also present there, and therefore Uddhava referred the incident to his memory.