27. Killing of JarasandhaFollowing Arjun's return to Indraprastha, Bhima told his brothers & Krishna that he was being advised to do a Rajasuya yagna. Krishna agreed to it, but told him that he would need to kill Jarasandha b4 he could do that. Karna suggested that they start a war on Magadha, and that he & Arjun alone could wipe out their opposition, but Krishna pointed out that Jarasandha still had several allies - Rukmi, Sishupala, Shalva, Dantavatra, and that he had just destroyed 2 of them - Paundrak & Sudakshina. On top of that, their spies had reported that Dhritarashtra had signed an alliance w/ Jarasandha, which would make even great warriors like Bheeshma & Drona their enemies, making for a more formidable coalition.
Bhima asked him what would be a good way to achieve this, and Krishna suggested that they do this in a duel. Bhima made Karna the acting ruler of Indraprastha, and set off w/ Arjun, Sahadev & Krishna, all disguised as Brahmins, to Magadha. There, Krishna told Jarasandha that they desired that any one of them would have a duel w/ him. Jarasandha initially declined, but once Krishna revealed their identity, he was game. Since Bhima was his equal in stature, being a king as well as a fighter, he picked Bhima.
The 2 of them started fighting w/ maces, until the maces broke 😆 It then became a physical duel b/w them that lasted 28 days. Finally, on the last day, b4 the fight, Krishna picked a twig, split it into 2 and showed it to Bhima. Since Jarasandha had been born by a mango cut & divided b/w his father's 2 queens, that was the only way to kill him - symmetrically tear him apart.
Bhima did that, but threw the parts away, but they then rejoined, and Jarasandha resumed the fight. Bhima then tore Jarasandha apart again, but this time threw the halves in opposite directions, and Jarasandha didn't recover. He was cremated w/ full honors, and his son Sahadev became the ruler of Magadha. 100 kings were freed, and they swore loyalty to Bhima, as did Magadhraj Sahadev.
Jarasandha had a young daughter who married Madri's son Sahadev, and together, they all returned to Indraprastha. When they did return, they found a pretty joyful city already, since Subhadra had given birth to Arjun's son Abhimanyu. Amba, Ambalika & Draupadi all welcomed Sahadev's new bride to Indraprastha.
In the meantime, Dhritarashtra had been all prepared to join Jarasandha in launching an all out assault first on Indraprastha, and later on Dwarka. However, the news of Jarasandha's death reached them, creating shock waves in Hastinapur. Dhritarashtra then got Bahlika & Shakuni over, and they decided to shift Jarasandha's alliance w/ Hastinapur replacing Magadha as the center of Jarasandha's coalition. They got a number of allies in this - Sishupala, Shalva, Vinda/Anuvinda, Dantavatra, Vidyurath, Rukmi and some others.
Following this, the Pandavas decided to embark on a number of conquests. Karna was assigned to take on Hastinapur. Sahadev was assigned to take on Bahlika & Gandhara and kingdoms to the North & NorthWest. Nakula was sent South West against Sishupala, Jayadrath, Shalva, Vinda/Anuvinda and other kingdoms there, while Arjun was sent South to conquer Dantavatra, Vidyurath, Rukmi and then move East.
Sahadev easily defeated Gandhara and cut off any support to Shakuni from Bahlika, b4 invading the latter's kingdom. Somadatta was defeated by him, but Bhurishrava gave him a tough battle, but the Pandavas ultimately prevailed. Sahadev then went north and suppressed Sudakshina of Kambhoja, b4 his campaign was over. He collected huge indemnities from all 3 rulers.
Nakul started off w/ Avanti, where he defeated Vinda & Anuvinda, and forced them to pay up. Next was Sindhu, where he defeated Jayadrath, and forced Sindhu too to pay a huge indemnity. He then invaded Chedi, where Sishupala, sensing that the tide was turning, welcomed him, and gave his sister Karenamati in marriage to him, Chedi was therefore spared the tax. Sishupala then joined Nakul in some campaigns in the East and helped Pandavas become supreme there.
Arjun in the meantime curbed Dantavatra & Vidyarath, and then went to Vidarbha, where he was welcomed by Bheeshmaka, who joined forces w/ him. Arjun then went to Bhojakot, but Rukmi managed to hold out, and rejected Arjun's offer of friendship. Arjun then won over the ruler of Kosala Nagnajit, and returned to Indraprastha.
In the meantime, Hastinapur too was invaded by Karna, and so V2, Bheeshma, Dhritarashtra, Duryodhan, Dushashan, Vikarna & Yuyutsu set off to fight him. However, Karna wounded V2, Bheeshma, Duryodhan and Dushashan in battle, and defeated the others easily. Dhritarashtra was captured, and released only on condition that he paid a huge indemnity to Indraprastha. Karna next invaded Ayodhya, where he defeated Rama's descendent Brihadbala.
Following these events, the 4 brothers returned victoriously to Indraprastha, where they were welcomed by Krishna, the Vasu brothers, Vidura & Bhima. Again, Indraprastha was already rejoicing, since Draupadi had given birth to Arjun's son Shrutakarman. Nakula was the last to return w/ Karenamati, and the newly wed couple were welcomed by Amba, Ambalika & Subhadra.
Following all this, Bhima invited all rulers to Indraprastha for the Rajasuya yagna. Devaka, Kuntibhoja, Shalya & Drupada were given the honors of guest-hosting the event. Some other friends of the Pandavas, like Magadhraj Sahadeva, Vriddhasharma of Kekaya, Nagnajit of Kosala, Brihadbala of Ayodhya, Virata also arrived, and Sishupala too came. However, Bahlika, Dhritarashtra, Shakuni, Kambhojaraj Sudakshina, Dantavatra, Vidyurath, Vinda/Anuvinda and Jayadrath all declined to attend, and sent underlings there instead.
In the meantime, Shakuni & Bahlika both visited Hastinapur to discuss w/ Dhritarashtra how to manage the damage caused by the loss of Magadha & Chedi to the Pandava camp. All this while in Indraprastha, preparations for the Rajasuya yagna were underway.
Edited by .Vrish. - 12 years ago
Anupamaa
