Jaraasandh's Birth and Killing

Yudhishthir asked, "By the way what is the secret of his power?" Krishn told the story of his birth:  "Jaraasandh's father Brihadrath married Kaashee's two princesses and promised them that he will love them equally. He got old but he didn't get any child. One day he heard that Chand Kaushik, the descendent of Gautam Rishi, had come there, so he went to see him and said - "Bhagavan, I have no child, please bestow me with a child." Muni was sitting  under a mango tree, the then mango fruit fell in his lap. He gave it to the king and asked him to give it to his queen. Raajaa considering his both queens equal, so he cut the mango in half and gave those pieces to them.

Time passed and each queen gave birth to a half child. Both got frightened seeing them and they threw them outside the palace. It so happened that Jaraa named Raakshasee came there in search of food. She found these pieces, she picked them and started playing with them. By chance those pieces got joined and the child got alive. She took him to her house and took care of him. Since Jaraa named Raakshasee brought him to life that is why he was named Jaraa+Sandh. Thus he is not one but two, therefore even Yam Raaj cannot harm him. He has seen Shankar in person. And I have already told you bout his Gadaa which he threw on Dwaarakaa. He tried to get it back but he could not dig it out. Without the Gadaa he is not so vulnerable now as before. Still it is difficult to defeat him, but dual fight is something else. Actually, maybe we all three can kill him."

Somebody suggested that he regarded Braahman very much and did not send them back empty-handed. So if Arjun, Krishn and Bheem go there in disguise of Braahman and ask the alms of a dual fight with any one of them, he will not say "no" to them. Then let him choose his opponent. He will not choose Krishn, because he had already defeated Him 18 times. He will not choose Arjun because he considers him as an archer. He can consider only Bheem. Bheem has similar strength also as Jaraasandh.

So all went to Jaraasandh's place in Braahman's disguise. They crossed Sarayoo River, then Gandakee River, then they came to Mithilaa. They proceeded towards Magadh. They came to Gangaa River and crossed it and there they saw his capital Girivraj at some distance. There they saw a huge temple of Shankar, they worshipped him there. They entered his palace by jumping the boundary wall and asked to see him. Jaraasandh was busy with his worship so he asked them to wait till midnight. Bheem doubted that whether he will come or not, but Krishn said - "He will surely come, he is brave and he is a great alms giver."

Jaraasandh came after midnight and saw them but could not believe his eyes, because they were not looking like Braahman. He asked - "You don't look like Braahman. Who are you and what do you want?" Krishn said - "You are right, we are not Braahman. We are your enemy." Jaraasandh said - "I don't know you at all, how can I tell that you are my enemies? If you are my enemy, please tell me the reason of your enmity to me." Krishn said - "The reason for our enmity is that you have unlawfully imprisoned kings for sacrifice for Rudra. We have come here to help those kings. I am Krishn, this is Arjun and this is Bheem. We don't need your money, clothing or animals etc. We want dual fight with you. You choose one of us for a dual fight."

Jaraasandh laughed long and loud and said - "Krishn, Should I choose you who had already fled from the battlefield 18 times and had hidden behind Raivatak Parvat? You are challenging me in my home? I am not Kans, I am Jaraasandh, the favored one of Devtaa. You are a coward, I cannot choose you. And Arjun, you? I do not want to choose you either, because you are still a child for me, and as you are an archer, you cannot fight dual fight. Yes, Bheem looks like that I can choose him." So he chose Bheem. Jaraasandh was sure to win, but as he had already seen ill omens, he coronated his son Sahadev and started fighting with Bheem.

Jaraasandh was a great brave and mighty man. If he chose Arjun then today the future would have been quite different. [Because Arjun got defeated and Yudhishthir's Raajsooya Yagya was not possible.] Therefore choosing Bheem for the dual fight is an important event for Mahaabhaarat.

Both came out of the city and the dual fight started. Both had equal strength, so both were fighting fiercely. Krishn was encouraging Bheem saying - "Bheem, Remember who you are? You are the son of Vaayu. You can tear him up if you want to." Bheem did tear him but his both pieces got joined again and fight continued. The fight continued for 28 days. Then Bheem got weaker, then Krishn demonstrated him how to kill Jaraasandh on 29th day. He torn a straw in the center and threw both parts on opposite sides. That is how Bheem could kill Jaraasandh.

Then they freed the 98 kings imprisoned and sent them to their kingdoms. Sahadev was already the king of Magadh so Krishn asked him to attend Yudhishthir's Raajsooya Yagya. Sahadev agreed to attend it. They all came back to Hastinaapur. Krishn went back to Dwaarakaa instructing them to go on their victory tour. He told that He would come back soon with all the Vrisni clan. He was happy that now Vrisni people need not to fear from Jaraasandh. He wanted to give this news to them soon.