Draupadi's Mahabharat

Part 44

"Okay,Okay. So would you not wish luck to bhrata Bheem?" he asked.

"I have already done that, I know that you are not my only husband" I said.

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They were leaving the very next moment. I was really worried about them. What if something happened to Bheem and what if Jarasandh defeated him. I knew that I was doubting the capabilities of my husband but it was unstoppable.

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The maid informed me that Arjun, Bheem and Govind had returned back to Indraprasth. I went to the gates to welcome them and was more than pleased that all of them were safe and sound.

"Welcome back"I said to all of them.

All of them  looked and me and gave a sweet smile. I could not help but return it the same way. 

"Was everything alright?"I asked once we were seated in Yudhisthir's room. 

"What makes you think that it was not?"asked Govind.

"How can you be so silly?"I asked him back.

"Am I silly? I don't think that I am even a bit"he said.

"Could you both please stop your fight?"interrupted Yudhisthir.

"Sure Jesht"said Govind.

"And you Priye"He asked looking at me.

"Yes Aarya"I said.

"So what happened there in Magadh? I want to here everything"said an anxious Nakul. 

"listen dear Nakul and don't interrupt in between"said Arjun.

"Krishna's maternal uncle was Kans. He had taken the throne of by force and imprisoned his own sister Devki, Krishna's mother. Krishna survived and escaped his prison only to return years later to kill him. Kans's death made two widows. Asti and Prapti. Krishna's killing of Kans made them furious and they asked their father, the mighty Jarasandh to take revenge. Jarasandh is definitely angry and that made sworn enemies of Magadha. Jarasandh is so powerful and mighty that Yadavas had to flee from Mathura all the way to Dwarika. Magadha empire was situated in what we call Bihar today. The almighty Jarasandh, forced Yadavas to flee from Mathura all the way to Dwarika which is in Gujarat. Jarasandh had two valiant warriors, Hans and Dimbhak. Both of them committed suicide. Yet this loss forced Jarasandh to fold and return to his capital, Girivraj. This brought Yadavas back in Mathura. In all this fight and tension, Kuru clan remained strangely distant. Although Hastinapur (Kuru's capital, and Indraprastha was not formed till then) was not very far from where all this was happening and yet they did not intervene.

Now Krishna was aware of how devoted the Pandavas are to him. He made a political move and convinced Yudhishthir that eliminating Jarasandh is necessary for success of Rajasuya. He also says that Yadavas did not attack Jarasandh considering the family ties, that in other words Yadava spared the Magadha king, (yet now he is asking the opposite) which most definitely is strange and probably a ruse. Yudhishthir was easily malleable, Bheem and Arjuna were both confident and capable. Krishna convinced Pandavas for a sneak attack knowing full well that a head on attack on Magadha has no possibility of success. So to note, Krishna has successfully got the involved in a fight which they were not at all part of.

So three of them, Krishna, Arjun and Bheem enter the capital of Magadh empire, Girivraj, dressed as Brahmins. Girivraj as name suggests is surrounded by hills and mountains and hence has a natural defense line from external attack. Krishna's guerrilla approach isn't strange any longer. There are couple of pages describing the beauty and wealth of the city. The citizens are shown enjoying themselves and comfortable in their lives. No where it is mentioned that Jarasandh was a tyrant apart from Krishna saying so. In other words, all the signs show that Jarasandh was a dutiful king. Even on hearing of the ruckus these three caused in the city, Jarasandh took the most amiable approach in confronting them.

When these three enter the palace to meet Jarasandh, he questioned their true identities. He guessed rightly that although dressed as Brahmins, they surely were not. At this point Krishna openly mentioned the enmity between the empires and said that they are visiting the city to kill Jarasandh. Krishna took shelter behind the fact that Jarasandh had captured 88 kings and he has ambitions to perform human sacrifice ritual to please Lord Shankara. There was a Dharma-Adharma discussion that ensued, and even in that Krishna has not made a convincing case. Jarasandh held his ground successfully. Still based on new-found spirit, Krishna challenged Jarasandha for a duel.

Jarasandha then enthrones his son Sahadeva and prepares for a fight. It is interesting to see him taking this decision. He could have easily captured these three to go nearer to his goal of 100 kings sacrifice. Krishna attributes his behavior to vanity. In any case, he gets ready to fight Bheem. It takes 13 whole days of relentless hand to hand combat for Bheem to finally stop Jarasandh and on 14th day Jarasandh is killed. Before the fight starts Jarasandh also makes a comment, that he would like to lose against a worthy foe. That talk isn't full of misplaced pride.

The end of Jarasandh is terrifying. Bheema held his leg and vertically cut him open at the end of the battle. His battle cries and Jarasandh's screams frightened the citizens, pregnant ladies lost their unborn babies etc. and there was overall gloom in the air.

And that makes him ever so cunning and a crafty politician. Things didn't end there. He then freed all those 88 kings which were naturally obliged and accepted the unconditional supremacy  Rajasuya even simpler."explained Arjun, Bheem and Govind together.p