Jarāsandha

Jarāsandha was the great king of Magadha and one of the strongest rulers of the Dvāpara Yuga. His father was Bṛhadratha. He was born in two halves from two queens. A rākshasī named Jarā found the halves and joined them, and the child came to life. So he was called Jarāsandha, “joined by Jarā”.

He became the fierce enemy of Kṛshṇa. He besieged Mathurā seventeen times. Then Kṛshṇa moved the Yādavas away to Dvārakā. At last Bhīma slew Jarāsandha in single combat, at Kṛshṇa’s direction, during the preparations for the Rājasūya.

Birth

Jarāsandha’s father was Bṛhadratha of the Pūru vaṃśa (line). The line came down through Kuru, Sudhanu, Suhotra, Cyavana, Kṛtaka and Uparicara-Vasu, to Bṛhadratha.

Bṛhadratha had two wives but no sons. He got a mango from a ṛshi, who had said that it would give a son to the one who received it. Bṛhadratha cut it and gave one half to each wife. Both queens became pregnant, but each gave birth to only half a child. The two half-children were thrown away in disgust.

A rākshasī named Jarā was wandering through the forest and found the two halves. She brought them together. As she joined them, the halves became one whole living child, who gave a mighty cry. Jarā was afraid. She placed the child before Bṛhadratha and told him what had happened. Bṛhadratha took the child with joy. The rākshasī Jarā had joined (sandhi) the two halves, so the child was named Jarāsandha.

The Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Chaturdhāṃśa, Chapter 19, tells this.

Enmity with Kṛshṇa

Both daughters of Jarāsandha were married to Kaṃsa. When Kṛshṇa slew Kaṃsa, Jarāsandha became Kṛshṇa’s most determined enemy. He besieged Mathurā seventeen times with huge armies. Each time Kṛshṇa and Balarāma defeated him, but they did not kill him. To save the Yādavas from these repeated ruins, Kṛshṇa withdrew from Mathurā as a plan and built the new city of Dvārakā on the western coast.

The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skanda, Chapter 50, tells this.

Jarāsandha also held eighty-six captured kings in his fortress of Girivraja. He meant to offer them to his chosen deva. This was a constant threat to the order of the world.

Death

Yudhishṭhira planned the Rājasūya yajña. Kṛshṇa advised that Jarāsandha had to be removed first. As long as he lived and held those kings in prison, the claim of the Rājasūya to rule over all could not stand.

Kṛshṇa, Bhīma and Arjuna dressed as brāhmaṇas and went to Jarāsandha’s capital, Girivraja. Jarāsandha kept the ātithya-dharma (the duty to a guest) and offered them any vara (a boon). They showed who they were and challenged him to single combat. Jarāsandha kept to kshatriya dharma and accepted. He chose Bhīma as his opponent.

The two wrestled for twenty-eight days. Kṛshṇa showed Bhīma the way to kill him: to tear the body into two halves and throw them apart. Bhīma split Jarāsandha and hurled the two halves in opposite directions. The eighty-six kings in prison were freed.

The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skanda, Chapters 70–73, tells this.

Recalled in the Anuśāsana Parva

In the Purusha-māhātmya chapter of the Umā-Maheśvara Saṃvāda, Bhagavān Śiva remembers Jarāsandha’s defeat. He does so as part of his account of the descent of Vāsudeva. He says that Vasudeva’s son Kṛshṇa defeated Jarāsandha in his own capital, Girivraja, and freed the kings Jarāsandha had held. In Śiva’s words, Kṛshṇa became “a gem among all kings”.

The Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 147, tells this.

Lineage

After Jarāsandha came Sahadeva, then Somapa, then Śrutiśravas. All of them were kings of Magadha. The Bārhadratha dynasty was founded by Bṛhadratha, and Jarāsandha is its most famous king. It ruled Magadha for one thousand years, and then the Pradyota dynasty followed.

Meghasandhi, grandson of Jarāsandha

The Aśvamedhika Parva names one more descendant, Meghasandhi, a son of Sahadeva and so a grandson of Jarāsandha. He ruled at Rājagṛha. The horse of the Pāṇḍava Aśvamedha, under the guard of Arjuna, came there. Meghasandhi was firm in kshatriya dharma but still young in judgment. He challenged Arjuna. His chariot, bow and mace were each destroyed in turn, and he was clearly defeated. But his life was spared, because of Yudhishṭhira’s standing order against killing kings. He was invited to come to the Aśvamedha at Hastināpura.

The Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 82, tells this.

Sources

• Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Chaturdhāṃśa, Chapter 19
• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skanda, Chapters 50, 70–73
• Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 147
• Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 82