Sisupala and his friend Dantavakra, who will be killed by Krishna in Chapter Seventy-eight, were previously Jaya and Vijaya, two gatekeepers in Vaikuntha. Because of an offense, the four Kumaras cursed them to take three births in the material world as demons. The first birth was as Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu, the second as Ravana and Kumbhakarna, and the third as Sisupala and Dantavakra. In each birth they were completely absorbed in enmity toward the Lord and were slain by Him.

Srila Prabhupada explains the position of Sisupala as follows: "Although Sisupala acted as the enemy of Krishna, he was not for a single moment out of Krishna consciousness. He was always absorbed in thought of Krishna, and thus he got first the salvation of sayujya-mukti, merging into the existence of the Supreme, and finally became reinstated in his original position of personal service. The Bhagavad-gita 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 Srimad-Bhagavatam elaborately describe the incident wherein the Lord's personal associates were cursed to come to the material world as His enemies. In this connection, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti quotes the following verse (Bhag. 7.1.47):

vairanubandha-tivrena

dhyanenacyuta-satmatam

nitau punar hareh parsvam

jagmatur vishnu-parshadau

"These two associates of Lord Vishnu -- Jaya and Vijaya -- maintained a feeling of enmity for a very long time. Because of always thinking of Krishna in this way, they regained the shelter of the Lord, having returned home, back to Godhead."