Jarā Rākṣasī
Jarā was a rākṣasī (a female rākṣasa) who had a part in the birth of Jarāsandha, the powerful king of Magadha. Two queens of King Bṛhadratha of Magadha had each given birth to one half of a child. Jarā joined the two halves, and only then did they become a living child. From this the child received the name Jarāsandha. In the account, jara is “she who joined” and sandha is “joining”.
Balarāma later killed Jarā with the Stūṇakarṇāstra. In the same act Jarāsandha lost his Sarvaghātinī gadā (club). Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa recalled this in Chapter 181 of the Droṇa Parva. He was explaining to Arjuna how he had arranged, step by step, the removal of each ally and protector who might have stood by Karṇa.
Her part in Jarāsandha’s birth
The king of Magadha, Bṛhadratha, had two queens but no child. He received a single mango from the ṛṣi (seer) Canda Kauśika and gave half to each queen. Both queens conceived, but each gave birth to only half a child, a single half-body without life. The queens were horrified and threw both halves outside the city.
Jarā was a rākṣasī who lived in that region. She found the two halves and joined them. The moment the two halves touched, they became one living, whole child. The infant’s cry was so powerful that it shook the earth.
The great child was named Jarāsandha, “he who was joined by Jarā”. So Jarā became a lasting part of the name of one of the most powerful kings of the Dvāpara Yuga. The Droṇa Parva tells this.
Her death by Balarāma’s Stūṇakarṇāstra
In Chapter 181, Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa explained the careful plan he had woven. He said that Balarāma had used the Stūṇakarṇāstra against Jarā and destroyed her. In the same act Jarāsandha lost his Sarvaghātinī, his supreme gadā.
The removal of Jarā and of the Sarvaghātinī gadā was one link in the chain of events that left Jarāsandha open to death. In the end Bhīmasena killed him in a duel at Girivraja.
How Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa presents it
Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa tells of Jarā’s destruction by Balarāma as one part of his arrangement. By these steps the fall of Jarāsandha could not be prevented.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Droṇa Parva, Chapter 181