In the previous episode, we had witnessed the continuation of the thirteen-day war between Bheemasena and Jaraasandha. An intense fight broke out between the two and it continued day and night without a break. Both exchanged lusty blows on each other, however, with their immense strength and will power, both of them sustained all the blows they received from each other. The fight went on day and night without a break in this way. Finally at the end of the thirteenth day and during the beginning of the fourteenth day, King Jaraasandha started to show some signs of weakness and fatigue, which was rightly capitalized by Bheemasena. He thus gave Jaraasandha a few fatal blows which split him into two halves! Bheemasena tore through his legs and Jaraasandha was unable to cope up with that. With this, Bheemasena through both the halves of Jaraasandha’s body apart and thought that he was done! However to his utter disbelief and shock, the two halves joined together like a magnet again and became one body! Jaraasandha came back to life and again the fight continued! Bheemasena repeated this process twice or thrice and the same result happened – Jaraasandha was again and again coming back to life with the two halves of his body sticking together, everytime Bheemasena split them and threw apart.
At one stage, Bheemasena was fed up with the whole thing and was about to give it up! It is at this time Bhagawan Krishna intervened. Until this time, He was just watching what was going on from the side of the audience. He never uttered a single word to Bheemasena until that point. However, when Bheemasena approached Bhagawan Krishna for help, it is only then Bhagawan Krishna swung into action. He reassured Bheemasena to go back and fight Jaraasandha one more time, and when Jaraasandha’s body is split again into two, Bhagawan Krishna would further suggest what to do next! As per Bhagawan’s instruction, Bheemasena once again entered the “Ranga-Bhoomi” and commenced the fight. Again the fight was extremely intense and again, Jaraasandha couldn’t withstand Bheemasena’s raw muscle power. His body was split into two parts once again by Bheemasena. Now that this split has happened, Bhagawan Krishna sends an indirect message. As Bheemasena was looking up to Bhagawan Krishna, He took out a piece of grass, split it longitudinally into two halves and turned one half upside down as compared to the other half.
The message was loud and clear to Bheemasena – I shall explain this strategy in more detail here. According to the boon that Jaraasandha had obtained, if both his halves were in the same direction, that is, one half of his head, hands, legs etc. are in the same direction as the other half, then both would join together to form a complete body again. However, if one half’s head portion is kept near the other half’s leg portion (One half turned upside down), then both the pieces wouldn’t be able to join together and regain life! Hence, Bhagawan Krishna is instructing Bheemasena to reverse one half of Jaraasandha’s body and throw it apart, which Bheemasena obeyed. With this, Jaraasandha’s two body halves were not able to stick together, even though they tried coming closer to each other. After a few minutes of trying, the body parts failed to stick together and Jaraasandha gave up his life! Thus, this marked the end of the fourteen-day-long battle between Jaraasandha and Bheemasena, and also the ultra-long feud between Bhagawan Krishna and Jaraasandha!
As Jaraasandha finally fell dead, the entire world celebrated this victory of good over evil. At the same time, Jaraasandha’s son came and fell on Bhagawan Krishna’s divine lotus feet immediately. Jaraasandha’s son was “Sahadeva” – We’re not talking here about the fifth Paandava brother, Sahadeva. Readers shouldn’t get confused. Jaraasandha’s son, Sahadeva was a good person by birth. He did not endorse his father’s evil deeds at all. Now that his father was dead, Sahadeva came to Bhagawan Krishna and surrendered himself thus, “Oh Bhagawan! I know of whatever torture my father has given to you all these years. On behalf of him I’m seeking forgiveness at your lotus feet. You should not take all those bad deeds of my dad to your heart. You should forgive him, because he had done all of it unknowingly! Hence, please ensure that my father reaches the highest “Moksha”!”
As Sahadeva pleads thus, Bhagawan Krishna replies back: “Oh Sahadeva! Please do not worry! I had to oppose and fight with him only because he opposed me. I do not have any grudge against your father. This is why I left him without killing for seventeen times. However, now that his atrocities knew no bounds, I had no other option but to go for the kill. However, you need not worry. I shall take care of your father henceforth and you should continue to rule the Magadha Desha in the “Dharma-Maarga”!” Saying thus, Bhagawan Krishna provides His divine “Anugraha”, and Sahadeva henceforth ruled the country without any “Adharma”.
Now that King Jaraasandha was over, the decks are clear for the Raaja-Suya Yaaga of Yudishtra to commence. The trio of Bhagawan Krishna, Arjuna and Bheemasena return back to Indraprastha and convey the good news to Yudishtra. Now the stage is set for the grand Yaaga to commence. So for today, let us understand up to this point and in the next episode, we shall witness how the preparations for the Yaaga commenced and what happened subsequently! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 