Lord Krishna’s five cousins, the Pandavas, had a kingdom named Indraprastha. The eldest of them, Yudhishthir, wanted to perform the Rajasuya Yajna. He went to Lord Krishna and said, “For the Rajasuya Yajna, a king has to be declared an emperor and all the surrounding kingdoms have to recognise him as their overlord. I have no choice but to defeat Jarasandha and obtain the title of emperor. Please help me, Krishna!” Lord Krishna said, “Send Bheem (the second Pandava) and Arjun (the third Pandava) to Magadha, dressed up like the Brahmins. They should challenge Jarasandha for a wrestling bout.” Thus, Bheem and Arjun reached Magadha.
When they challenged Jarasandha, he did not believe them to be the Brahmins as they had well-built physique. “Who are you?” he yelled at them. Much to Jarasandha’s shock, Lord Krishna also came. “Pick an opponent, Jarasandha! We have come to fight against you,” said Lord Krishna, and He revealed Bheem’s and Arjun’s identities.
Bheem and Arjun challenged Jarasandha as per Lord Krishna’s instructions. But Jarasandha said, “Krishna, I will not fight You as You are a cowherd. You don’t even match my dignity and status. I refuse to fight Arjun as he is too young. But I will surely fight against Bheem as he seems to be a worthy opponent.” Jarasandha offered Bheem a large club and went out of the city.
When Bheem’s and Jarasandha’s clubs struck together, it sounded like thunderbolts in a storm. After their clubs were broken, the two angrily hit each other with iron-hard fists. Thus, Bheem and Jarasandha fought for twenty-seven days as both of them were equally matched, only stopping at the end of each day to live as friends in Jarasandha’s palace at night. On the twenty-eighth day, Bheem almost gave up and looked up to Lord Krishna for help. Only He knew how Jarasandha could be killed.
Lord Krishna noticed that Bheem was not able to defeat Jarasandha and called him aside. He told Bheem a secret about Jarasandha’s birth, “Jarasandha was born in two halves from two mothers. Seeing that the baby was useless, his father threw the two parts into the forest. These were found by a demoness named Jara. She managed to join the two halves and brought Jarasandha to life.”
When the fight continued, Lord Krishna picked a twig up, broke it in two halves and threw the two halves far away from each other. This indicated that Jarasandha could be killed by reversing the manner in which he was born. Bheem grabbed hold of Jarasandha’s legs and split his body into two. He then threw them far away from each other so that they might not be joined again. After Jarasandha’s death, Lord Krishna put Jarasandha’s son upon the throne. Then He released all the kings and the princes who had been imprisoned by Jarasandha.
