Jarāsandha Vadha

The Jarāsandha Vadha is the killing of the king of Magadha. It is told in the 10th Skanda of the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 70 to 73. Jarāsandha had shut up kings in prison. They sent a messenger to Kṛshṇa to beg for freedom. At the same time Nārada came with news that Yudhishṭhira wished to hold the Rājasūya yajña and needed Kṛshṇa’s help.

Uddhava gave a plan. Jarāsandha could not be beaten in open war, even by a hundred akshauhiṇīs (huge armies). But he would never refuse a brāhmaṇa who asked for a single combat. Kṛshṇa, Bhīma and Arjuna went to Girivraja dressed as brāhmaṇas. Jarāsandha saw that they were kshatriyas (warriors) but kept the dharma of welcoming guests, and gave them what they asked: a duel. Bhīma and Jarāsandha fought for twenty-seven days. Kṛshṇa then showed Bhīma how to split Jarāsandha like a tree. Bhīma tore Jarāsandha apart with his bare hands. Kṛshṇa made Jarāsandha’s son king and freed all the imprisoned rulers.

The appeal of the imprisoned kings

Twenty thousand eight hundred kings had been taken by Jarāsandha in his digvijaya (campaign of conquest over all directions). They had not bowed to his power, so he shut them up at Girivraja. They sent a messenger to Kṛshṇa in his Sudharmā assembly hall at Dvārakā. The messenger bowed to Kṛshṇa and told of the kings’ suffering. He recited their prayer:

“O Kṛshṇa! You cannot be seen by the senses or the mind. You take away the fear of those who come to you for shelter. We are caught in the misery of saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death), and we come to you. One powerful king of Magadha, as strong as ten thousand elephants, has shut us up as a lion pens sheep. O Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, whose Sudarśana Cakra is always ready and who is never defeated, you beat Jarāsandha eighteen times and won! Now he is hurting your own descendants, us. Take the right action.”

Nārada then arrived with the news that Yudhishṭhira wished to hold the Rājasūya. Kṛshṇa took counsel with Uddhava.

Uddhava’s plan

Uddhava advised: “O Govinda! Let us support the Rājasūya. Two aims will be met at once. Jarāsandha will be killed, the imprisoned kings will be freed, and the Rājasūya will succeed. As to how: Jarāsandha cannot be beaten by a hundred akshauhiṇīs when his forces stand ready. But he is a devoted friend of brāhmaṇas. At no time and in no case does he refuse a brāhmaṇa’s request. Let Bhīma, the only man of equal strength, go in the dress of a brāhmaṇa and ask him for single combat. Bhīma will surely kill him in your presence.”

Kṛshṇa, Bhīma and Arjuna travelled to Girivraja in the dress of brāhmaṇas. They reached Jarāsandha’s palace at midday, the hour for welcoming guests. They presented themselves as brāhmaṇas asking for a gift. They spoke of how short the life of the body is and how lasting is the worth of giving rightly.

The recognition and the challenge

Jarāsandha saw the marks on their bow-arm wrists, their kshatriya bearing, and he knew their faces from before. Yet dharma bound him to honour their request. He thought: “No one can cross the limit set by kāla (time). Even if they are kshatriyas in disguise, even if they ask for my very life, I must give it. Bali gave everything he had to Vāmana, though he knew that it was Vishṇu in disguise. A kshatriya who does not turn a short life into lasting fame is worthy of scorn.”

So Jarāsandha said: “O brāhmaṇas, ask for what you will, even my head.” Kṛshṇa then showed who they were and asked for single combat: “This is Bhīma, the son of Kuntī. That is Arjuna, his brother. I am Kṛshṇa, your enemy. Tell me now.”

Jarāsandha laughed and agreed: “Then I will give you combat!” But he would not fight Kṛshṇa. He called Kṛshṇa a coward who had run away to the ocean. Arjuna was too young. Jarāsandha chose Bhīma, his equal in strength, and the two went out of the city to the battlefield.

The twenty-seven day battle and Jarāsandha’s death

Bhīma and Jarāsandha fought a great fight with gadās (maces). Like two elephants crashing together with their tusks, their clubs struck with the roar of thunderbolts. They smashed each other’s chariots, armour and maces. In the end they fought with bare hands, each hitting the other with fists hard as iron, and the blows rang like clouds without rain. They were equal in training, in body and in strength of mind, and neither won. They fought through the day and rested at night as friends, and began again the next morning. Twenty-seven days went by with no end to it.

On the twenty-seventh day Bhīma said to Kṛshṇa: “O Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, I cannot beat Jarāsandha in this fight.” Kṛshṇa knew the secret of Jarāsandha’s birth: the rākshasī Jarā had joined his two half-bodies together at birth. Kṛshṇa thought deeply and gave Bhīma a sign. He acted out splitting a twig down the middle and throwing the two halves in opposite directions.

Bhīma understood at once. He seized Jarāsandha by both legs and pinned one of his feet with his own foot. With terrible force he tore Jarāsandha completely apart, from the groin upward, just as Kṛshṇa had shown. The two halves fell to the ground. The people of Magadha wept. Kṛshṇa and Arjuna embraced Bhīma with great joy.

The freeing of the imprisoned kings

Kṛshṇa made Jarāsandha’s son Sahadeva the king of Magadha. Then he went to the mountain fort where the twenty thousand eight hundred kings were held. As Kṛshṇa came near, the kings saw him in his four-armed form. He was dark as rain clouds and wore yellow clothes. The Śrīvatsa mark shone on his chest. His eyes were red like lotus petals. He was adorned with a crown, a necklace and the Kaustubha gem. The kings gazed at him as if drinking him with their eyes, smelling him, tasting him and embracing him in their minds, and the pain of their bondage melted away. They bowed and offered him a great stotra (hymn of praise).

Kṛshṇa spoke to them: “I have seen how great wealth and power cause an intoxication that drives kings mad with pride. Fix your minds on me and rule your kingdoms in the right way. Keep an even mind in joy and sorrow, in gain and loss, and let time pass with your minds set on me.”

He gave them baths, clothes, ornaments, food and a fitting welcome. Then he sent them home in chariots decorated with gold. They went back to their kingdoms and told everyone of the glory of Kṛshṇa.

Sources

• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skanda, Chapters 70–71 (the appeal of the kings and Uddhava’s plan)
• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skanda, Chapters 71–72 (the journey to Girivraja)
• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skanda, Chapter 72 (the challenge, the battle and Jarāsandha’s death)
• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skanda, Chapter 73 (the freeing of the kings)