Jarāsandha Vadha in the Sabhā Parva

Jarāsandha, the strong king of Magadha, stood in the way of the Rājasūya Yajña that Yudhishṭhira wished to perform. He held eighty-six kings prisoner at Girivraja. Kṛshṇa, Arjuna and Bhīma went there in disguise as brāhmaṇas, and Bhīma killed him in single combat. The Sabhā Parva of the Mahābhārata tells this in Chapters 14 to 16.

Kṛshṇa’s plan

After Nārada’s counsel on the Rājasūya Yajña, Yudhishṭhira was unsure. He spoke to Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. He said that Nārada had advised the Rājasūya and that Kṛshṇa had also commanded it, but that Jarāsandha of Magadha blocked the way. He had heard that Jarāsandha’s power had no limit. Jarāsandha had fought Kṛshṇa again and again, and Kṛshṇa had left Mathurā instead of pressing on against him. Yudhishṭhira asked how he should act.

Kṛshṇa answered: “O Pāṇḍava, I did not leave in front of Jarāsandha because I was not able. I left so that my own people, the Yādavas, would not be destroyed. The time was not right then. Now the time is right. Jarāsandha must be removed, and Bhīma is the means. No one equals him in bodily strength. I will go with you. We three will go in disguise as brāhmaṇas, enter Girivraja, and come before Jarāsandha as guests.”

Jarāsandha was well known for his gifts to brāhmaṇas. He could not refuse a brāhmaṇa guest anything that was asked, even a single combat in the wrestling ground.

Jarāsandha’s power

Jarāsandha ruled Magadha from his strong capital Girivraja, which stood in a ring of five hills. He was the father-in-law of Kaṃsa. After Kṛshṇa killed Kaṃsa, Jarāsandha attacked Mathurā seventeen times, and each time he brought the Yādavas to the edge of ruin. The attacks stopped only after the seventeenth battle. Then Kṛshṇa built Dvārakā by the western ocean and moved the Yādavas there.

Jarāsandha was collecting kings as prisoners at Girivraja. He meant to perform a great yajña to Śiva when he had gathered one hundred defeated kings. He had already shut up eighty-six kings from across Āryāvarta.

His bodily strength was famous. He was born in two halves, two unfinished children. A rākshasī named Jarā joined the halves together. For this he was called Jarāsandha, “the one joined by Jarā”. Because of this birth he was almost unbeatable. Ordinary blows could not kill him. A blow would only split him, and the halves would join again.

The journey to Girivraja

Kṛshṇa, Bhīma and Arjuna left Indraprastha in the dress of brāhmaṇas. They travelled to the north-east towards Magadha, through forests, over rivers and across mountains. On the slopes of Goratha mountain they put off the dress of brāhmaṇas and showed themselves as kshatriyas, wearing garlands and carrying arms. This was the way of a challenge to combat: to come to the enemy’s gate openly as warriors who seek battle.

At Girivraja they climbed the hill by one of the five great ridges and entered the city. They did not use the main gates. They broke through the outer wall, the way of a warrior who comes as a challenger and not as a subject.

Jarāsandha received them. When he looked at them, he knew they were not ordinary brāhmaṇas. Their bearing, the marks of battle on them and the hard skin of the bowstring on their fingers gave them away. He asked them to say who they were.

Kṛshṇa told him: “We are the Pāṇḍavas, and I am Vāsudeva. Dharmarāja Yudhishṭhira wishes to perform the Rājasūya. You stand in the way. Set free the kings you hold. If you will not, choose any one of us three and fight him in single combat.”

The fourteen-day fight

Jarāsandha chose to fight Bhīma.

The two huge warriors entered the ground and the fight began. It was wrestling with bare hands and no weapons, the oldest and most honoured kind of kshatriya combat.

The fight lasted fourteen days without rest. Both men had enormous strength, and neither could beat the other. On the fourteenth day Kṛshṇa gave Bhīma the sign he had been waiting for.

Kṛshṇa quietly took up a twig, split it down the middle, and held the two pieces apart. This was the sign to Bhīma for the way to kill Jarāsandha.

Bhīma caught Jarāsandha by the legs, lifted him high in a great arc and dashed him down. He spun the body and tore it in two at the waist. He flung the two halves to opposite sides of the ground.

But the halves tried to join again. Kṛshṇa knew the secret of Jarāsandha’s birth and called out at once: “Bhīma! Throw the halves in opposite directions, left against right!” Bhīma threw the left half to the east and the right half to the west. So kept apart, they could not unite. Jarāsandha was dead.

After the fight

The eighty-six kings were freed from the dark prisons of Girivraja. They came out stunned and thin, and full of thanks. Kṛshṇa spoke to them with great kindness. He gave them fresh clothes, fed them, and sent them home to their kingdoms with fitting gifts.

The freed kings came from Pauṇḍra, Vaṅga, Kośala, Daśārṇa, Kāmboja and from kingdoms in every direction. They promised their loyalty to Yudhishṭhira and promised to come to the Rājasūya.

Jarāsandha’s son, a young prince named Sahadeva (not the Pāṇḍava Sahadeva), was made the new king of Magadha. He also at once bowed to Yudhishṭhira and promised to come to the Rājasūya.

The way was now open for the Pāṇḍavas’ digvijaya (conquest of the quarters) and the great yajña.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapter 14 (Kṛshṇa’s plan)
• Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapters 14–15 (Jarāsandha’s power and his birth)
• Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapter 15 (the journey to Girivraja)
• Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapter 16 (the fight, the death of Jarāsandha and what followed)
• Bhāgavata Purāṇa (a parallel account of the same episode)