Sarvaghātinī

The Sarvaghātinī was the greatest gadā (mace) of Jarāsandha, the mighty king of Magadha. Its name means “the all-destroying”. It was a weapon of unstoppable power, linked to Jarāsandha’s extraordinary strength as a warrior.

Jarāsandha lost the Sarvaghātinī when Balarāma used the Stūṇakarṇāstra to kill Jarā, a rākshasī. Jarā had protected Jarāsandha by divine power ever since his wondrous birth. In Chapter 181 of the Droṇa Parva of the Mahābhārata, Bhagavān Kṛshṇa recalls this event as one of the steps in his long plan to make sure Karṇa would finally be defeated.

The Weapon and Its Owner

The Sarvaghātinī was Jarāsandha’s own gadā. Calling it “all-destroying” shows that it could overcome any ordinary opponent. Jarāsandha was king of Magadha and one of the most powerful rulers of the Dvāpara Yuga (the third of the four ages). His military campaigns attacked Kṛshṇa’s Yādava forces again and again, and drove them from Mathurā to Dvārakā. His power came both from his own skill and from his bond with the rākshasī Jarā. When he was born in two halves, it was Jarā who joined the two halves of his body together and gave him life.

How the Weapon Was Lost

Balarāma’s Stūṇakarṇāstra killed Jarā. With her death, Jarāsandha lost the Sarvaghātinī, and he lost both the weapon and the divine protection that had kept him safe. This made Jarāsandha open to defeat in the duel with Bhīmasena that Kṛshṇa later arranged at Girivraja, where Bhīma defeated and killed him. Kṛshṇa clearly mentioned the destruction of the Sarvaghātinī when he explained how he had removed, one by one, each obstacle standing between the Pāṇḍavas and final victory.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Droṇa Parva, Chapter 181