Episode 34

Jarāsaṃdha Vadha[i]

The story of Jarasandha is of interest for various reasons. Bhūbhāra haraṇaṃ (भूभार हरणं) or the suppression of evil forces on earth was the raison d'être of Krishna's appearance on the earth. Without the killing of Jarasandha, Dharmaraja cannot perform his Rajasuya yagna and become a Samrat (king of kings). Only when he becomes Samrat, the jealousy in Duryodhana sprouts and results into a major war. The killing of Jarasandha was a strategic ploy employed by Krishna to sow the seeds of future war which alone can extinguish the demonic forces upon the earth. 

In this story we see why Lord Krishna himself could not defeat Jarasandha; and the clever warfare strategy crafted by Krishna to extinguish the enemy. 

We also see how our scriptures frowned at the obnoxious practices like Naramedha (sacrifice of human beings in a ritual). Let us read the story.

The Story:

Dharmaraja’s thoughts were immersed in performing Rajasuya Yaga. One who performs Rajasuya can alone claim for the title of Samrat (king of kings). The odds were heavy since there were many kings ruling in different parts of Bharat and conquering all the kings was not an easy task. He consulted his brothers, ministers and well-wishers. Everyone advised him that he was worthy to become a Samrat. But without consulting Krishna, he did not dare to take a decision. He sent word to Dwaraka and requested Krishna to arrive to Indraprastha.

Krishna received the message of Yudhishtira and immediately reached the place of Pandavas. He was happy to hear the intentions of Yudhishtira. But Yudhishtira had lurking fears of the gigantic task ahead of him. He requested Krishna to give out his opinion by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of Pandavas vis-à-vis the rest of the kings.

‘Hi, Yudhishtar! In a way, you are worthy to be the Samrat of the earth. Mandhata became Samrat by defeating all kings by virtue of his valor. Bhagiratha became Samrat by his benevolent administration. Kartaveerya became Samrat by his power of tapas. By virtue of strength, Bharatha became the Samrat. The fifth known Samrat is Marut and his claim to the position was his wealth. In my view, you possess all these virtues and why not you claim for the position?’

‘Of course there are many powerful kings around you like Duryodhana, Bhishma, Drona, Aswatthama, Krupa, Salya, Sakuni etc. But they may not fight with you due to the respect they give to you[ii] . Of all the kings, the one that is most powerful is Jarasandha, the ruler of Magadha kingdom. Sisupala, the powerful warrior is his commander-in-charge of the army. Dantavaktra who is dexterous in magical and deceitful warfare is also with him. The Yavana king Bhagadatta pays tributes to Jarasandha. The kings of East, West, North and South fear the dreadful power of Jarasandha. The king Kamsa suppressed his own clan of people and joined hands with Jarasandha and married two of his daughters. All Yadavas including me left Madhura and we are residing behind the back of Raivata hill (Dwaraka). As I know he defeated and captured hundreds of kings and want to sacrifice them in a Yagna. If he lives on earth, you cannot dream of becoming a Samrat’.

‘’O! King, please think of ways and means to extinguish Jarasandha from this earth’.

But how to defeat a powerful enemy who could not be conquered by Krishna himself? But can any Kshatriya king allow a rival to live in competition?

Bhima suggested,

अनारम्भपरो राजा वल्मीक इव सीदति।

दुर्बलश्चानुपायेन बलिनं योऽधितिष्ठति ॥[iii] (The king who does not embark upon a task and the king who does not employ a ploy to kill his enemy – both are destined to get destroyed akin to the anthill infected by worms and bugs). Arjuna supported the idea of Bhima. Still Yudhishtira was vacillating and could not dare to take a decision. He wanted to know his story and Krishna started telling his story.

Jarasandha’s birth and his ascendency to the throne:

Brihadrata was the ruler of Magadha. He married Kasi raja’s two daughters and was enjoying his life. However, his happiness was dented for the reason that he was not blessed by children. He did what all that was suggested to him but in vain. Desperately he was wandering and found a sage, Chanda Kausika. He approached the sage and sought his blessings. The sage pitied the king and presented a fruit by virtue of which he would be blessed with a son and he would conquer the kings and keep the world under his sway. He blessed the yet to be born son with eight boons- devotion towards Brahma jnanis, matchless power in duels, protection of the needy, enormous strength in body, eternal fame, and endearment to people.

Brihadratha was quite happy and presented the fruit to his beloved wives. They cut the fruit into two pieces and took it as prasadam of the god. In due course of time they delivered; but alas- both gave birth to pieces of each containing one eye, one year, one leg and a vertically incised belly. They got frightened and discarded the pieces outside the city of Magadha with the help of their maids.

On the same night a demon lady, Jara wandering at the outskirts of the city found two pieces of a child’s body and tried to hold them together. Surprise! Suddenly she saw the two pieces got merged to form a strong body of a baby. The demon came to the court of Brihadratha and gave the son to him. Since the child was born by the power of forging by Jara, he was christened as Jarasandha (In Sanskrit, coming together of two words or things is Sandhi).  

When the boy grew up, Brihdratha coroneted Jarasandha as the king of Girivraja (Present day Rajgir) and left for forests with his wives. The boons of Chanda Kausika were the blessings for the king of Girivraja. He started occupying the kingdoms one after another; and the kings who rebelled died ignominious deaths like locusts in the glaring fire. While being aggressive in conquests, he was humble before the learned and a father-like for his citizens.

One day Jarasandha swirled his mace hundred times and when it was thrown, it fell in the fort of Krishna. His enmity with Krishna started when the latter defeated and killed his illustrious son-in-law, Kamsa.

Krishna concluded the story and looking at Yudhishtira told, ‘Hi, king! You cannot defeat Jarasandha in a conventional war even if you fight for three hundred years. He can be conquered only in a duel by a wrestler of his stature. I have the statecraft; Bhima has strength and Arjuna symbolizes victory. You assign Bhima and Arjuna to me on the condition that I should give them back to you (न्यासभूतौ प्रयच्छ मे)[iv]. Yudhishtira consented and all the three left for Magadha disguising themselves as Brahmanas.

The fort of Girivraja was an impregnable fort surrounded by a range of huge mountains and deep valleys. They destroyed the Chaityaka mountain peak with the power of fists and entered the capital Girivraja. Without any fear they enter the court of Jarasandha from the backside gate. Jarasandha was known for his humbleness towards the learned Brahmins. He approached them and offered his willingness to perform puja (worship) for them. Krishna refused to accept the puja and pronounced that they were not willing to accept any offerings from their enemy.

‘But where is the enmity between us? I respect Brahmins and elders. I wonder why you have destroyed the hill peak and entered my house from the back gate. I follow the path of righteousness and there is no reason to label me an enemy’, queried Jarasandha.

In the guise of Brahmana, Krishna continued, ‘Oh king! You have captured the kings and intended to offer their heads in a yagna to propitiate Lord Siva.

मनुष्याणां समालम्भः न च दृष्टः कदाचन ।

स कथं मानुषैर्देवं यष्टुमिच्छसि शड़्करम् ।।[v] (We have never seen the sacrifice of human beings for venerating gods. For satisfying the humane Sankara, why should you indulge in inhuman violence?

We are here to establish dharma and punish the violators of dharma. I am Krishna, your archrival. These two are Bhima and Arjuna. We came here to invite you for a duel. We intend to dispatch you to the abode of heaven, and you can choose to fight any one of us and the choice is left to you’.

‘Hey Krishna! I captured the kings in wars and there is no king here who is not defeated by me. I am not timid to get frightened by your words. I choose to fight with a warrior of my stature, Bhima; and it is good even if defeated in the hands of a strong person (श्रेयसा निर्जितं वरम्)[vi]

Jarasandha ordered for the coronation of his son Sahadeva (not to be confused with the Sahadeva, the last one of Pandavas). On the appointed day both Jarasandha and Bhima entered the podium with all happiness on their faces. Both are ambitious and both are blessed with the strength of angry lions. Their shoulders are their weapons and both rubbed their shoulders with roaring sounds. They struck their chests rapidly, plucked each other, and pushed each other on the ground; and with fisticuffs hit against each other on heads and shoulders.

Without any food or rest, day and night the duel went on for fourteen days. On the fourteenth day, Jarasandha looked tired and weak. Krishna advised Bhima not to punish the body of Jarasandha too much. It was enough he uses his hands alone in the battle. Then he suggested Bhima to invoke the power of Vayu and use all his force to make him fall to the ground. Enthused by the words of Krishna, Bhima assimilated all his strength, swirled Jarasandha and with a roaring sound threw him on the ground.

That was the right moment. Krishna took out a piece of hay and tore it vertically. Bhima got the clue. With his left foot on the right thigh of the fallen enemy, he picked the left leg of Jarasandha and tore his body into two pieces. But surprise, the two pieces suddenly got united and Jarasandha again started fighting. Bhima was clueless. He looked at Krishna. Now Krishna took out one more piece of hay, tore it and threw the pieces in opposite directions. Bhima sensed the significance and this time, he tore Jarasandha to pieces and threw them on opposite directions. The two pieces could not get connected and the joy of Bhima knew no bounds.

With victory, he roared and the people around got frightened and they ran helter-skelter. Quite a good number of pregnant ladies experienced abortion with the roaring sound of Bhima piercing their ears (सर्वे स्त्रीणां गर्भाश्च सुस्रुवुः।।[vii] 'Whether the Himalaya mountain broken? Whether the earth got disintegrated?’, they feared. Then Krishna, Bhima and Arjuna proceeded to the central jail and released all the captured kings. They surrendered to Krishna and agreed to help Yudhishtara in performing the Rajasuya Yaga. Jarasandha’s son surrendered to Pandavas and acknowledged the supremacy and sovereignty of Dharmaraja.

Dharmaraja felt happy at the turn of events and embraced Krishna and his brothers.

Story- an analysis:

The death of Jarasandha was a necessity for many reasons. Without his death Yudhishtira could not perform Rajasuya. For Krishna, it was a necessity as he had to ensure righteousness to prevail in the world whenever there was ascendancy of adharma. Gita says:

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत |

अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् || - Gita 4.7[viii] (Whenever there is a decline in righteousness and an increase in unrighteousness, I manifest myself on earth).

What was the adharma resorted by Jarasandha? It was his intention to sacrifice human beings to propitiate the gods which was obnoxious. Further without Rajasuya by Yudhishtira, there would not be occasion for Duryodhana’s jealousy and the consequent Kurukhstra war. Krishna had to ensure the accomplishment of Rajasuya.

Krishna was incarnation of Sri Maha Vishnu and why was he defeated by Jarasandha? Krishna himself tells that Jarasandha had a boon from Brahmaa in his previous birth that he would not be defeated by Yadavas [ix] and Krishna was of Yadava clan. He did not want to make Brahmaa’s words untruth.

The story tells us that to become the king of kings (Samrat), the person should possess any one in abundance- Valor (Mandhata’s quality), Penance (like Kartaveerya), Strength (Bharata’s quality), abundance of wealth. Yudhishtira, worshipped by his four brothers, was endowed with majority of the qualities and Krishna rightly advised him to embark upon a conquest of the world.

There arises a doubt as to why Krishna, Bhima and Arjuna entered the fort of Girivraja fort in the guise of Brahmins and why did they enter from the back gate? It was certainly a strategy. Krishna himself tells that with all weapons and army, one cannot defeat Jarasandha even after fighting for three hundred years. They cannot enter fort as kings as their entry would be restricted by the powerful warriors protecting the fort. Jarasandha was a known worshipper of Brahmins and entering the fort in the guise of Brahmins would be an easy task. Why did they meet him at midnight at the back-gate? Only friends and relations reach the king through main gate. Back-gate is for enemies. Why mid-night? Perhaps to invite him for a one to one duel and avoid conventional war involving army. Krishna knew that Jarasandha, being proud on the strength of his own shoulders, would not refuse for a one to one duel. The perfectly crafted strategy worked as per the plan and Jarasandha was made to rest in peace.

Points to ponder:

1. Sacrificing the human beings to please gods is obnoxious. Was it permitted in Hinduism?
2. A war needs strategy. Discuss the strategy adopted by Krishna in this story.

Footnotes:

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[i] This Story is taken from Sabha Parva of Maha Bharata written by sage Ved Vyasa (Gorakhpur Gita Press, 2018)

[ii] Sabha Parva 14.62

[iii] anārambhaparo rājā valmīka iva sīdati।

durbalaścānupāyena balinaṃ yo'dhitiṣṭhati ॥ Sabha Parva 15.11

[iv] nyāsabhūtau prayaccha me -Sabha Parva 20.7

[v] manuṣyāṇāṃ samālambhaḥ na ca dṛṣṭaḥ kadācana ।

sa kathaṃ mānuṣairdevaṃ yaṣṭumicchasi śaड़karam ।। Sabha Parva 22.11

[vi] śreyasā nirjitaṃ varam - Sabha Parva 23.7

[vii]  sarve strīṇāṃ garbhāśca susruvuḥ।। - Sabha Parva 24.9

[viii] yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata

abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṁ sṛijāmyaham- Gita 4.7

[ix] Sabha Parva 22.35

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