Carpeta fiscal Nº 131-2016

Shortly after Arjuna’s return from his pilgrimage, Yudhishtira expressed his desire to be king. ‘I want to perform the Rajasuya yagna,’ he said.

But for that he needed other kings of the land to participate in the ceremony, a symbolic acknowledgement of his sovereignty.

Krishna said, ‘You have to first prove you are worthy to wear the crown. And the best way to

demonstrate your power, so that your claim to kingship is uncontested, is to overpower Jarasandha.’

‘The king of Magadha, destroyer of Mathura!’ exclaimed Yudhishtira, suddenly unsure, for

Jarasandha was greatly feared in Bharata-varsha. It was said that he had imprisoned a hundred kings and planned to conduct a human sacrifice. ‘My army is no match for his.’

Krishna smiled and said, ‘Mighty brawn is no match for a nimble brain. Let us go to his city disguised as priests. In keeping with the laws of hospitality, he will offer us anything we desire. We shall ask him for a duel. A hand-to-hand combat to the death.’

The Pandavas were impressed with Krishna’s plan. They knew that Krishna and Jarasandha were old enemies. This plan would benefit both, the Yadavas and the Pandavas. The Yadavas would be rid of the man who destroyed Mathura and the Pandavas would be able to declare themselves kings and repay their debt to Krishna who had done so much for them.

Predictably, Jarasandha welcomed the three Brahmans who had come down from Hastina-puri and in keeping with the code of hospitality, offered to fulfil any of their wishes. ‘Ask and it shall be yours,’ he said.

‘We wish a hand-to-hand combat with you, to the death,’ said the three Brahmans.

Jarasandha immediately realized these were no Brahmans but Kshatriyas in disguise. He had been duped but he was too proud to go back on his word. ‘I suspect one of you is Krishna, the coward who ran away to Dwaraka when I burnt down his city of Mathura. And the other two must be the Pandavas with whom he has forged a powerful alliance.’ Looking at Arjuna, he said, ‘You are lean and thin, unworthy in a hand-to-hand combat. Besides the marks on your arms indicate you are an archer. You must be Arjuna.’ He then turned to Bhima and said, ‘You are big and strong. A worthy opponent. I suspect you are Bhima.’ Then he turned to Krishna. ‘You are dark and your eyes radiate mischief. You must be the boy who killed my son-in-law. I will deal with you after I have dealt with Bhima here.’

As Bhima was about to enter the wrestling arena, Krishna picked up a leaf, tore it into two along the spine, and said, ‘The only way to kill Jarasandha is to tear his body into two vertical halves as I do this leaf. His childless father divided the magic potion meant to give him a child equally between his two wives. As a result, each wife bore him half a child. These two halves were fused together by a demoness called Jara who protects Jarasandha and makes him invincible. He cannot be killed by any weapon. Only if he is split into two can he die.’

Bhima realized soon enough that Jarasandha was indeed an invincible opponent. The powerful punches with which he had killed demons like Baka and Hidimba had no effect on the king of

Magadha. They fought like wild elephants for hours. Finally, Bhima pinned Jarasandha to the ground, caught hold of his leg and with all his might tore his body into two. A cheer rose from the spectators.

But then all fell silent. To everyone’s astonishment, the left half of the body magically moved towards and fused with the right half of the body and Jarasandha stood up unhurt. Bhima looked at Krishna quizzically. Krishna immediately picked up another leaf, split it into two along its spine, but this time threw the left half of the leaf on the right side and the right half of the leaf on the left side. Bhima understood the message.

The fighting resumed. A terrible fight that caused the pillars of the wrestling arena to tremble and the Devas to gather along the horizon and cheer Bhima. After many hours, Bhima was finally able to pin Jarasandha to the ground. Holding one leg, he tore Jarasandha into two as he had done last time. He then threw the left side of the body to the right side of the arena and the right side of the body to the left side of the arena.

Thus was Jarasandha killed. With this, Krishna was finally rid of the man who had destroyed the Yadava city of Mathura. No king now remained in Bharatavarsha who would challenge Yudhishtira’s bid to be king. Thus did Indra-prastha, a city established by the Pandavas, become a sovereign

kingdom.

A Rajasuya yagna granted kingdoms their sovereignty. To achieve this status, the ruler of the kingdom had to prove his military might so that other kings of the land accepted him as an equal. By performing a Rajasuya, Yudhishtira was formally breaking all ties with his uncle and telling the world that his kingdom was autonomous.

While helping the Pandavas, Krishna also uses them to defeat his enemy, Jarasandha. Krishna’s running away when Jarasandha’s army destroyed Mathura, earned him the rather derogatory title of Ran-chor-rai, he who withdrew from battle.

In Jain traditions, every world cycle witnesses sixty-three great heroes known as the Salaka-purushas. They include twenty-four hermits or Tirthankaras, twelve kings or Chakra-vartis and nine sets of three warriors comprising the righteous and peaceful Baladeva, the righteous but violent Vasudeva and the unrighteous Prativasudeva. Krishna and Jarasandha are considered to be Vasudeva and Prativasudeva, fated to fight. Krishna’s elder brother, Balarama, is the gentle Baladeva who prefers peace to war. In the next world cycle, say the Jain scriptures, Balarama will be reborn as a Tirthankara much earlier than Krishna because of his preference for the Jain principle of ahimsa or non-violence.

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