The Rajasuya Yagna was considered to be a prominent one because of two reasons;
a. It
went on to establish the supremacy of the King performing the yagna over all
the other kings of the land and
b. It
automatically qualified him a lace in the Indra Sabha in his after life.
All those around Yudhishthira
eulogized him and urged him to embark on the Rajasuya sacrifice. But
Yudhishthira would not take a final decision without consulting the knower of
all things, Krishna. He sent a messenger to Dwaraka, seeking Krishna’s advise.
Krishna took the opportunity to visit Indraprastha where he could meet his
cousins, aunt and sister. He proceeded in his celestial chariot that traveled
like a ray of the sun.
On reaching Indraprastha, Krishna
paid his regards to Yudhishthira and Kunti, affectionately embraced his other
cousins and blessed his sister Subhadra. He then sat down to answer the king’s
query about his eligibility to perform the Rajasuya.
Krishna told the mighty Pandava
monarch, “I, however, have a concern. A survey of the kings in the country
shows that you are superior to all of them. There is, however, one exception.
And that is the Magadha king, Jarasandha. This evil oppressor of mankind is so powerful
that even I had to abandon my capital, Mathura, for fear of him, and flee to
the Western coast.
“We had to build a very strong
fort at Dwaraka so that my people and I could live free of Jarasandha’s
attacks. Jarasandha carries a grouse against us because I killed the evil king
Kamsa who was married to two of his daughters. All kings have become
Jarasandha’s vassals, and those who resist him are imprisoned in a fort. He has
so far imprisoned eighty-six kings. After capturing fourteen more, he intends
to offer them one by one as sacrifice to the god Rudra. He will surely not
accept you as superior to him, and would do all he could to obstruct the
sacrifice. He would seek eternal fame by defeating you.”
“What makes him so invincible?”
Yudhishthira asked Krishna.
Krishna related Jarasandha’s story
to the king.
The
History:
Brihadratha,
the mighty king of Magadha, married the twins of the Kasi ruler, both endowed
with beauty and intelligence. The two wives gave him great happiness but failed
to provide a son to carry on the dynasty. One day, he heard that a sage, Chanda
kaushika, was camping at the outskirts of his capital. The king went with his
wives to seek the blessings of the sage.
Brihadratha
pleased the rishi by worshipping him and offering him valuable presents. When
the king told the sage of his desire to have a son, the rishi blessed him and
said, so be it. Just then a mango from the tree under which they were sitting,
fell on the lap of Chandakausika. The holy man handed over the fruit to the
king and asked him to give it to his wives. The sage left after assuring the
king that he would get a son who would be a mighty monarch.
Being
equally fond of both his wives, Brihadratha divided the fruit between them.
Both of them conceived. When they delivered, each wife had half of a baby,
having one arm, one leg, half a head and half a torso. The disappointed queens
disposed of the sundered baby through a maid who threw the parts out through
the backdoor of the palace.
A
rakshasa woman, Jara by name, who lived on flesh, was foraging in the garbage
for food. She found the two halves of the baby thrown by the maid. Fate playing
a part, she joined the two symmetrical pieces together. A healthy baby was
formed which started to howl in a thunderous voice. It was so large and heavy
that Jara could not carry it away. The inmates of the palace came running to
find out what the commotion was about. Jara handed over the baby to them and
ran away. When the queens recognised the baby, they were overjoyed. The baby
was given named Jarasandha meaning, joined together by Jara.
Some
time later, the rishi Chandakausika again visited Magadha. King Brihadrada
received him with great respect and worshipped him. The learned one predicted
to the king that the child born to him would grow in strength and conquer the
whole world. All the kings of the earth would tremble before his might. After
making this prediction, the sage went away to attend to his business. When
Jarasandha came of age, Brihadrada retired to the forest, installing his son as
ruler.
In
time Jarasandha grew into a fearsome king. Being a friend of Kamsa, Jarasandha
drove the Yadava tribe of Vrishnis along with our cousins, the Kukuras and the
Andhakas, out of Mathura. Krishna recognized that Jarasandha was invincible and
his death was not yet due, and to keep out of his way, moved to Dwaraka.
Krishna told Yudhishthira that he
would not be able to perform his Rajasuya unless Jarasandha was eliminated.
This could be achieved only if Jarasandha was engaged in a personal combat, as
the Magadha king was incapable of being vanquished in the battlefield. It was
decided that Arjuna and Bhima, along with Krishna, should proceed to Magadha to
put an end to this oppressor of kings.
The
Fight:
On
arriving at Magadha, Arjuna, Bhima and Krishna gained entry into the city
disguised as brahmins. They did not want to be recognized as princes. Soon they
were in the presence of Jarasandha.
Once
they reached Jarasandha’s presence, they revealed their identity to him.
Krishna demanded that all the kings that Jarasandha had imprisoned should be
released.
Jarasandha
scornfully replied that he would add these three to those imprisoned.
“But,” he said, “I always defeat my foe in war before killing or
imprisoning him. In your case, since you are without an army, I am prepared to
fight you individually.”
It was
decided that a combat between the king and one of the three visitors should be
held. When asked to select his opponent, the proud Jarasandha pointed to Bhima,
the one who looked the biggest and strongest. Jarasandha took the precaution of
installing his son Sahadeva as king before the battle started, in the unlikely
event of his being killed in the fight.
What
followed was a war between two mountains. Bhima and Jarasandha were engaged in
personal combat for fourteen days even as the earth shook under them. They
clashed like elephants and let out roars that sent fear in the spines of those
who heard them. Before entering the combat on the last day, Krishna picked up a
small twig on their way to the wrestling arena. Bhima managed to
overwhelm Jarasandha who lay down exhausted during the course of the combat.
Seizing this opportunity, Krishna pulled out the twig and separated it right
down the middle. This was to tell Bhima that he should do the same to
Jarasandha to defeat him.
Bhima
did as was told. There was a great roar from Jarasandha as he met his death.
Krishna
released all the kings imprisoned by Jarasandha in the hill fortress known as
Girivraja. The liberated kings worshipped Krishna and asked what command he had
for them. Krishna told them that they were free to return to their kingdoms.
“You
have Bhima to thank for your liberation,” Krishna told the kings. “He is the
brother of the great king, Yudhishthira, who is holding a Rajasuya sacrifice.
You should all assist the Pandava king in his Rajasuya.” The kings agreed in
one voice.
The new
king of Maghada, Sahadeva, sought Krishna’s blessings and commenced his
beneficial rule.
The
victorious three were given a rousing welcome when they returned to
Indraparastha. Krishna took leave of the Pandavas and left for Dwaraka, having
accomplished his objective of eliminating Jarasandha.
