"Vasudeva said,--'Arjuna hath indicated what the inclination should be
of one that is born in the Bharata race, especially of one who is the
son of Kunti. We know not when death will overtake us, in the night or
in the day. Nor have we ever heard that immortality hath been achieved
by desisting from fight. This, therefore, is the duty of men, viz., to
attack all enemies in accordance with the principles laid down in the
ordinance. This always gives satisfaction to the heart. Aided by good
policy, if not frustrated by Destiny, an undertaking becomes crowned
with success. If both parties aided by such means encounter each other,
one must obtain ascendency over the other, for both cannot win or lose.
A battle however, if directed by bad policy which again is destitute of
the well-known arts, ends in defeat or destruction. If, again, both
parties are equally circumstanced, the result becomes doubtful. Both,
however, cannot win. When such is the case, why should we not, aided by
good policy, directly approach the foe; and destroy him, like the
current of the river uprooting a tree? If, disguising our own faults,
we attack the enemy taking advantage of his loopholes, why should we
not succeed? Indeed, the policy of intelligent men, is that one should
not fight openly with foes that are exceedingly powerful and are at the
head of their well-arrayed forces. This too is my opinion. If, however,
we accomplish our purpose secretly entering the abode of our foe and
attacking his person, we shall never earn obloquy. That bull among
men--Jarasandha--alone enjoyeth unfaded glory, like unto him who is the
self in the heart of every created being. But I see his destruction
before me. Desirous of protecting our relatives we will either slay him
in battle or shall ascend to heaven being ourselves slain in the end by
him.'
"Yudhishthira said--'O Krishna, who is this Jarasandha? What is his
energy and what is his prowess, that having touched thee he hath not
been burnt like an insect at the touch of fire?'
"Krishna said,--'Hear, O monarch, who Jarasandha is; what his energy;
and what is his prowess; and why also he hath been spared by us, even
though he hath repeatedly offended us. There was a mighty king of the
name of Vrihadratha, the lord of the Magadhas. Proud in battle, he had
three Akshauhinis of troops. Handsome and endued with energy, possessed
of affluence and prowess beyond measure, and always bearing on his
person marks indicating installation at sacrifices. He was like a
second Indra. In glory he was like unto Suryya, in forgiveness like
unto the Earth, in wrath like unto the destroyer Yama and in wealth
like unto Vaisravana. And O thou foremost of the Bharata race, the
whole earth was covered by his qualities that descended upon him from a
long line of ancestors, like the rays emerging from the sun. And, O
bull of the Bharata race, endued with great energy that monarch married
two twin daughters of the king of Kasi, both endued with the wealth of
beauty. And that bull among men made an engagement in secret with his
wives that he would love them equally and would never show a preference
for either. And the lord of the earth in the company of his two dearly
loved wives, both of whom suited him well, passed his days in joy like
a mighty elephant in the company of two cow-elephants, or like the
ocean in his personified form between Ganga and Yamuna (also in their
personified forms). The monarch's youth however, passed away in the
enjoyment of his possessions, without any son being born unto him to
perpetuate his line. The best of monarch failed to obtain a son to
perpetuate his race, even by means of various auspicious rites, and
homas, and sacrifices performed with the desire for having an
offspring. One day the king heard that the high-souled Chanda-kausika,
the son of Kakshivat of the illustrious Gautama race, having desisted
from ascetic penances had come in course of his wanderings to his
capital and had taken his seat under the shade of a mango tree. The
king went unto that Muni accompanied by his two wives, and worshipping
him with jewels and valuable presents gratified him highly. That best
of Rishis truthful in speech and firmly attached to truth, then told
the king,--"O king of kings, I have been pleased with thee. O thou of
excellent vows, solicit thou a boon." King Vrihadratha then, with his
wives, bending low unto that Rishi, spoke these words choked with tears
in consequence of his despair of obtaining a child.--"O holy one
forsaking my kingdom I am about to go into the woods to practise
ascetic penances. I am very unfortunate for I have no son. What shall I
do, therefore, with my kingdom or with a boon?"'
"Krishna continued,--'Hearing these words (of the king), the Muni
controlling his outer senses entered into meditation, sitting in the
shade of that very mango tree where he was. And there fell upon the lap
of the seated Muni a mango that was juicy and untouched by the beak of
a parrot or any other bird. That best of Munis, taking up the fruit and
mentally pronouncing certain mantras over it, gave it unto the king as
the means of his obtaining an incomparable offspring. And the great
Muni, possessed also of extraordinary wisdom, addressing the monarch,
said,--"Return, O king, thy wish is fulfilled. Desist, O king, from
going (into the woods)".--Hearing these words of the Muni and
worshipping his feet, the monarch possessed of great wisdom, returned
to his own abode. And recollecting his former promise (unto them) the
king gave, O bull of the Bharata race, unto his two wives that one
fruit. His beautiful queens, dividing that single fruit into two parts,
ate it up. In consequence of the certainty of the realisation of the
Muni's words and his truthfulness, both of them conceived, as an effect
of their having eaten that fruit. And the king beholding them in that
state became filled with great joy. Then, O wise monarch, some time
after, when the time came, each of the queens brought forth a
fragmentary body. And each fragment had one eye, one arm, one leg, half
a stomach, half a face, and half an anus. Beholding the fragmentary
bodies, both the mothers trembled much. The helpless sisters then
anxiously consulted each other, and sorrowfully abandoned those
fragments endued with life. The two midwives (that waited upon the
queens) then carefully wrapping up the still-born (?) fragments went
out of the inner apartments (of the palace) by the back door and
throwing away the bodies, returned in haste. A little while after, O
tiger among men, a Rakshasa woman of the name of Jara living upon flesh
and blood, took up the fragments that lay on a crossing. And impelled
by force of fate, the female cannibal united the fragments for facility
of carrying them away. And, O bull among men, as soon as the fragments
were united they formed a sturdy child of one body (endued with life).
Then, O king, the female cannibal, with eyes expanded in wonder, found
herself unable to carry away that child having a body as hard and
strong as the thunder-bolt. That infant then closing his fists red as
copper and inserting them into its mouth, began to roar terribly as
rain-charged clouds. Alarmed at the sound, the inmates of the palace, O
tiger among men, suddenly came out with the king, O slayer of all foes.
The helpless and disappointed and sad queens also, with breasts full of
milk, also came out suddenly to recover their child. The female
cannibal beholding the queens in that condition and the king too so
desirous of an offspring, and the child was possessed of such strength
thought within herself--I live within dominions of the king who is so
desirous of an offspring. It behoveth not me, therefore, to kill the
infant child of such an illustrious and virtuous monarch. The Rakshasa
woman then, holding the child in her arms like the clouds enveloping
the sun, and assuming a human form, told the king these words,--"O
Vrihadratha, this is thy child. Given to thee by me, O, take it. It
hath been born of both thy wives by virtue of the command of the great
Brahmana. Cast away by the midwives, it hath been protected by me!"'
"Krishna continued,--'O thou foremost of the Bharata race, the handsome
daughters of the king of Kasi, having obtained the child, soon drenched
it with their lacteal streams. The king ascertaining everything, was
filled with joy, and addressing that female cannibal disguised as a
human being possessing the complexion of gold, asked,--O thou of the
complexion of the filament of the lotus, who art thou that givest me
this child? O auspicious one, thou seemest to me as a goddess roaming
at thy pleasure!'