Who is Jarasandh?
Jarasandh was a tyrant king of Magadh. He was an incarnation of demon Viprachitti, who was evil and drunk in power. He has an amazing story of his birth. His father Brihadatha was a very powerful ruler. He married two of his daughters to King of Kashi. He loved both of his wives equally but both of them failed to conceive a son, this brought huge distress to his father. This made him anxious about who would take care of his reign after his death.
Jarasandh Birthstory
One day an eminent sage came to his state. The king came to know that he would fulfill the desires of people. In hope to get a son, the king went to his place with lots of offerings to him. He cried and begged for help. The sage closed his eyes and meditated for a while. All of a sudden a fruit fell in his lap. The sage gave the fruit to the king and told him to give it to his wife and he would definitely have a son.
The king was very happy. On returning to the palace, he was a bit confused about which of his wives should the fruit be given to? Since he loved both of his wives dearly he couldn’t give it to one. So he divided the fruit equally and offered it to both of his wives. Both of them conceived after they ate the fruit.
On the day of delivery both of the queens delivered half a baby. The midwives were scared, so they carried two halves and dumped it in the back of the palace. Meanwhile the demon named Jara was passing by the palace and saw the two halves of the baby. She thought about devouring it so quickly joined the two halves so it would be easy for her to carry. After she joined the two halves the baby started to cry. Everyone in the palace heard the baby cry and came to the spot. They saw the baby with demon Jara. On knowing that the baby belongs to the king, Jara decided to give it to the king. The king honored Jara for giving life to his son and named him Jarasandh.
Jarasandh and Lord Krishna
After his father departed, Jarasandh became the king of Magadh. He conquered all of the states and established himself as powerful kings. He had multiple wives but two of them were chief. They were twin sisters from Kashi who gave birth to two daughters. Jarasandh married his daughter to King Kamsa who was the evil maternal uncle of Lord Krishna. After Lord Krishna defeated Kamsa, Jarasandh’s daughter was widow. This infuriated Jarasandh. He executed many battles against Krishna but was defeated every time.
Death of Jarasandh
After Pandavas got Indraprastha they performed Rajasuya yagya. Lord Krishna advised them to kill Jarasandh and release all the kings and brahmanas that were captured by him. Jarasandh was puissant and sturdy. Who would defeat Jarasandh? Bhima came forward to complete this task. Lord Krishna, Bhima and Arjuna disguised themselves as a brahmana and went to his palace to beg for alms. Jarasandh told them he would give anything they asked. Lord Krishna, full of wits, asked him for a one on one fight with Bhima. Jarasandh agreed. He was sure he would win this fight.
The fight went on and on for twenty-seven days. Since both of them were equally powerful neither of them were defeated. Krishna knew about the birth of Jarasandh. He also knew how to defeat Jarasandh. Before the duel on twenty-eighth day Krishna picked up a twig, split it into two halves vertically and threw both of them in their opposite direction. Bheema understood so tore Jarasandh into two halves and threw both of the body parts in opposite directions. This brought an end to the tyrannical ruler Jarasandh. All of the kings and brahmins Jarasandh captured were released.