Srila Prabhupada writes, "In that meeting, King Sisupala was also present. He was an avowed enemy of Krishna for many reasons, especially because of Krishna's having stolen Rukmini from the marriage ceremony; therefore, he could not tolerate such honor to Krishna and glorification of His qualities. Instead of being happy to hear the glories of the Lord, he became very angry."

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti mentions that the reason Sisupala did not object when Sahadeva proposed Krishna for the agra-puja is that Sisupala wanted to ruin King Yudhishthira's sacrifice. If Sisupala had argued earlier against Lord Krishna's receiving the first worship and another person had been selected, the sacrifice would have then proceeded normally. Therefore Sisupala allowed Krishna to be selected, waited until the worship was over, and then spoke up, hoping in this way to demonstrate that the sacrifice was now spoiled. Thus he would ruin the endeavor of Maharaja Yudhishthira. In this regard the acarya quotes the following smriti reference: apujya yatra pujyante pujyanam ca vyatikramah. "In the place where those who are not to be worshiped are worshiped, there is offense to those who are actually worshipable." There is also the following statement: pratibadhnati hi sreyah pujyapujya-vyatikramah. "Improperly understanding who is to be worshiped and who is not to be worshiped will impede one's progress in life."