King Brihadratha of Magadha had two queens. But he was unhappy as he had no children. Once, sage Chandakaushika visited the king. The sage was learned. Thus the king met the sage and related to him his woe. The sage took pity on him.
He gave a mango to the king who gave each of his wives half of it. In due course, each gave birth to one half of a child. Frightened, they threw the pieces away. A she-monster, Jara, found the two pieces and was going to eat them. As she held the pieces straight, they joined together and formed a child. The child began to cry. Jara took pity on the child. As the forest belonged to Magadha, she handed over the child to King Brihadratha. The king and his queens were delighted to have their child back. After getting the son the milk flowed through the bosoms of the two queens. The joining of the two lumps of flesh gave the child the name ‘Jarasandha’. He had imprisoned a hundred kings.
After Krishna had killed Jarasandha’s son-in-law, Jarasandha retaliated by destroying the city of Mathura. Krishna with all the subjects had to flee to Dwarika. From then on, there was enmity between Krishna and Jarasandha.
Krishna, Arjuna and Bhima went to the court of Magadha. Bhima challenged Jarasandha to a combat. The latter accepted the challenge to wrestle with Bhima. He wrestled with Bhima for thirteen days. Many a time, Bhima tore Jarasandha’s body from its middle. When the two parts came close to each other, they joined and Jarasandha came back to life.
On the fourteenth day Krishna tore a straw from its middle and threw away the two parts in the opposite directions. Seeing this Bhima understood what Krishna wanted to convey. He tore open Jarasandha from the middle and threw away the two parts in the opposite directions. The two parts could not join as they were threw away in the opposite directions.
Thus Jarasandha was killed. Thereafter Jarasandha’s son Sahadeva was crowned king of Magadha. All the imprisoned kings were released from the prison.
