In the previous episode, we had witnessed Bhagawan Krishna apprising Yudishtra on who Jaraasandha was, and why is he a stumbling block from his Raaja-Suya Yaaga to take place. Bhagawan Krishna explains that Jaraasandha was the king of the Magadha Desha and was the father-in-law of Kamsa, who was the king of Mathura. As Kamsa was killed by Bhagawan Krishna during His childhood days, Jaraasandha was seeking revenge on Bhagawan Krishna ever since, and everytime both Bhagawan Krishna and Jaraasandha met for a war, neither of them won it. Everytime Bhagawan Krishna defeated Jaraasandha, he would run away from the cusp of Bhagawan Krishna. This was happening not once or twice, but seventeen times. Hence, Bhagawan Krishna decided to leave Mathura once and for all, as He thought that the people of Mathura are constantly getting disturbed because of the repeated war cries there. Thus, Bhagawan Krishna “ran away” overnight, being chased by Jaraasandha’s brother, Kaalayavana, all the way to Dwaaraka, where He established His mammoth kingdom. Thus, Bhagawan Krishna narrates all these past experiences to Yudishtra and He concludes by saying that it is up to Yudishtra now to take on Jaraasandha and kill him, before proceeding ahead with the Raaja-Suya Yaaga.
We’ve witnessed all these details in our “Shrimad Bhaagawatha Puraana” project earlier, and this is why I’m going a bit fast here. Thus, Bhagawan Krishna narrates His entire background story with Jaraasandha and how He had to “escape” overnight from Mathura to stop His Mathura people from suffering the aftermath of the war with him. Finally, Kaalayavana was also killed by Muchukuntha, who was sleeping inside a cave until that point. As Kaalayavana had mistaken Muchukunta for Bhagawan Krishna, he kicked Kaalayayavana and Muchukuntha opened his eyes, only for Kaalayavana to be burnt down! Subsequently, Bhagawan Krishna sent Muchukuntha to the Svarga Lokha and all these incidents happened at a place called “Daakur Dwaraka”, which is close to the present Indian city of Ahmedabad in the Indian State of Gujarat. Readers might be aware of this place, and the presiding deity (Bhagawan Krishna) at Daakur Dwaraka is often referred to as “Rana-Chod-Rai”. This means, Bhagawan Krishna had escaped the battlefield at Mathura and ran all the way to this particular place. Thus, Bhagawan Krishna explains to Yudishtra, all these incidents so as to alert him that Jaraasandha is not an ordinary person to be defeated so easily.
As Bhagawan Krishna says thus, Yudishtra listens to all this and now he changes his question! Till now he was asking Bhagawan Krishna as to whether he would be able to perform the Raaja-Suya Yaaga correctly or not. But now, he asked Bhagawan Krishna thus, “Oh Bhagawan! Will I be able to kill this Jaraasandha? Do I have the capability to do so?” 🙂 We might think on the onset that Yudishtra is excellent at asking questions! Yes! Yudishtra asks many questions, and this is not the end of all! Subsequently as we move into the other “Parvas”, Yudishtra is going to ask more and more questions to many different people! Of course, we should also understand here that Yudishtra is also good at answering questions as well! We would see this at a point referred to as the “Yaksha-Prashnam”, wherein Yudishtra is going to give important answers to Yama-Dharma Raja on various aspects of “Dharma”. We shall take it up for detailed discussion when that context comes up.
As Yudishtra asks thus, Bheemasena and Arjuna give replies to him. Bhagawan Krishna now lets Bheemasena do the talking. Till this point, none of the other Paandava brothers were doing the talking. It was only Yudishtra and Bhagawan Krishna who were talking, and now it is the turn of Bheemasena to talk and give his opinion. Bheemasena explains thus, “Oh brother! Oh Bhagawan Krishna! Why do you want to lower your confidence level? Haven’t we fought wars before? Haven’t we won over many other treacherous enemies earlier? Why do you want to lament this way? We should focus on our strengths and the enemy’s weaknesses. Similarly we should also identify our weaknesses as against the enemy’s strengths. Thus, if we do a “SWOT Analysis” of ourselves and the enemy and identify the key points, we shall easily be able to win over any enemy in this world, isn’t it?” As Bheemasena replies thus, Arjuna continues the same narrative further thus, “Oh Yudishtra! As Bheemasena rightly said – We should be clear in our understanding about who the enemy is and what is he capable / not capable of. If we’re clear in this aspect, it is not going to be difficult for us to win over the enemy! Moreover, if Bhagawan Krishna is there amidst us, how on earth are we going to face defeat?”
As Bheemasena and Arjuna explain thus, Yudishtra is still not very convinced. He asks them again thus, “Oh Bheemasena and Arjuna! I know that both of you are extremely powerful. I know that Bhagawan Krishna is the best strategist in this world! But we’ve to think of the enemy too. Jaraasandha, as narrated by Bhagawan Krishna just now, is not an ordinary guy. He has to be taken down in a smart as well as a powerful way! How is this going to be possible?” As Yudishtra asks thus, Bheemasena replies back: “Oh Yudishtra! Please do not worry! Dhananjaya (Arjuna) has the “Jaya” (Victory) factor in him. Bheemasena (Myself) has the “Balam” (Strength / Muscle power) with me! Bhagawan Krishna has the “Nayam” (Capability to strategize things clearly and smartly). The three of us will go to Jaraasandha and win over him! You do not worry! We shall take care of Jaraasandha!” As Bheemasena explains thus, Bhagawan Krishna also accepts Bheemasena’s proposal. Thus, it was decided that Bheemasena, Arjuna and Bhagawan Krishna would go to Magadha Desha and call Jaraasandha for a fight!
So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall witness how the fight between Jarasandha and this trio conspired! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 