In the great assembly of respectable citizens, friends, relatives, brähmaëas, sages, kñatriyas and vaiçyas, in the presence of all, including his brothers, King Yudhiñöhira directly addressed Lord Krishna as follows: “My dear Lord Krishna, the sacrifice known as the Räjasüya-yajïa is to be performed by the emperor, and it is considered the king of all sacrifices. By performing this sacrifice, I wish to satisfy all the demigods, who are Your empowered representatives within this material world, and I wish that You kindly help me in this great adventure so that it may be successfully executed. As far as the Päëòavas are concerned, we have nothing to ask from the demigods. We are personally fully satisfied to be Your devotees. As You say in the Bhagavad-gétä, “Persons bewildered by material desires worship the demigods.’ But my purpose is different. I want to perform this Räjasüya sacrifice and invite the demigods to show that they have no power independent of You—that they are all Your servants and You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Foolish persons with a poor fund of knowledge consider Your Lordship an ordinary human being. Sometimes they try to find fault in You, and sometimes they defame You. Therefore I wish to perform this Räjasüya yajïa. I wish to invite all the demigods, beginning from Lord Brahmä, Lord Çiva and other exalted chiefs of the heavenly planets, and in that great assembly of demigods from all parts of the universe, I want to substantiate that You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that everyone is Your servant.

“My dear Lord, those who are constantly in Krishna consciousness and who think of Your lotus feet or Your shoes are certainly freed from all contamination of material life. Such persons who engage in Your service in full Krishna consciousness, who meditate upon You only and offer prayers unto You, are purified souls. Being constantly engaged in Krishna conscious service, they are freed from the cycle of repeated birth and death. Or, even if they do not want to be freed from this material existence but desire to enjoy material opulences, their desires are also fulfilled by their Krishna conscious activities. In fact, those who are pure devotees of Your lotus feet have no desire for material opulences. As far as we are concerned, we are fully surrendered unto Your lotus feet, and by Your grace we are so fortunate as to see You personally. Therefore, naturally we have no desire for material opulences. The verdict of the Vedic wisdom is that You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I want to establish this fact, and I also want to show the world the difference between accepting You as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and accepting You as an ordinary powerful historical person. I wish to show the world that one can attain the highest perfection of life simply by taking shelter at Your lotus feet, exactly as one can satisfy the branches, twigs, leaves and flowers of an entire tree simply by watering the root. If one takes to Krishna consciousness, his life becomes fulfilled both materially and spiritually.

“This does not mean that You are partial to the Krishna conscious person and indifferent to the non–Krishna conscious person. You are equal to everyone; that is Your declaration. You cannot be partial to one and not interested in others, for You sit in everyone’s heart as the Supersoul and give everyone the respective results of his fruitive activities. You give every living entity the chance to enjoy this material world as he desires. As the Supersoul, You sit in the body with the living entity, giving him the results of his own actions as well as opportunities to turn toward Your devotional service by developing Krishna consciousness. You openly declare that one should surrender unto You, giving up all other engagements, and that You will take charge of him, giving him relief from the reactions of all sins. Still, the living entity remains attached to material activities and suffers or enjoys the reactions without Your interference. You are like the desire tree in the heavenly planets, which awards benedictions according to one’s desires. Everyone is free to achieve the highest perfection, but if one does not so desire, then Your awarding of lesser benedictions is not due to partiality.”

On hearing this statement by King Yudhiñöhira, Lord Krishna replied as follows: “My dear King Yudhiñöhira, O killer of enemies, O ideal justice personified, I completely support your decision to perform the Räjasüya sacrifice. After you perform this great sacrifice, your good name will remain well established forever in the history of human civilization. My dear King, I may inform you that all the great sages, your forefathers, the demigods and your relatives and friends, including Me, desire that you perform this sacrifice, and I think that it will satisfy every living entity. But I request that you first conquer all the kings of the world and collect all the requisite paraphernalia for executing this great sacrifice. My dear King Yudhiñöhira, your four brothers are direct representatives of important demigods like Väyu and Indra. [It is said that Bhéma was born of the demigod Väyu, and that Arjuna was born of the demigod Indra, whereas King Yudhiñöhira himself was born of the demigod Yamaräja.] As such, your brothers are great heroes, and you are the most pious and self-controlled king and are therefore known as Dharmaräja. All of you are so qualified in devotional service to Me that I have automatically been conquered by you.”

Lord Krishna told King Yudhiñöhira that He is conquered by the love of one who has conquered his senses. One who has not conquered his senses cannot conquer the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the secret of devotional service. To conquer the senses means to engage them constantly in the service of the Lord. The specific qualification of all the Päëòava brothers was that they always engaged their senses in the Lord’s service. One who thus engages his senses becomes purified, and with purified senses the devotee can actually render loving transcendental service to the Lord and conquer Him.

Lord Krishna continued, “There is no one in the three worlds of the universe, including the powerful demigods, who can surpass My devotees in any of the six opulences, namely wealth, strength, reputation, beauty, knowledge and renunciation. Therefore, if you want to conquer the worldly kings, there is no possibility of their emerging victorious.”

When Lord Krishna thus encouraged King Yudhiñöhira, the King’s face brightened like a blossoming flower because of transcendental happiness, and thus he ordered his younger brothers to conquer all the worldly kings in all directions. Lord Krishna empowered the Päëòavas to execute His great mission of chastising the infidel miscreants of the world and giving protection to His faithful devotees. In His Viñëu form, the Lord carries four weapons in His four hands—a lotus flower and a conchshell in two hands and in the other two hands a club and a disc. The club and disc are meant for the infidel miscreants and demons, and the lotus flower and conchshell for the devotees. But because the Lord is the Supreme Absolute, the result of all His weapons is one and the same. With the club and the disc He chastises the miscreants so that they may come to their senses and know that they are not all in all, for above them there is the Supreme Lord. And by bugling with the conchshell and offering blessings with the lotus flower, He always assures the devotees that no one can vanquish them, even in the greatest calamity. King Yudhiñöhira, being thus assured by the indication of Lord Krishna, ordered his youngest brother, Sahadeva, accompanied by soldiers of the Såïjaya tribe, to conquer the southern countries. Similarly, he ordered Nakula, accompanied by the soldiers of Matsyadeça, to conquer the kings of the western side. He sent Arjuna, accompanied by the soldiers of Kekayadeça, to conquer the kings of the northern side, and he ordered Bhémasena, accompanied by the soldiers of Madradeça (Madras), to conquer the kings on the eastern side.

It may be noted that by dispatching his younger brothers to conquer in different directions, King Yudhiñöhira did not actually intend that they declare war upon the kings. Actually, the brothers started for different directions to inform the respective kings about King Yudhiñöhira’s intention to perform the Räjasüya sacrifice. The kings were thus informed that they were required to pay taxes for the execution of the sacrifice. This payment of taxes to Emperor Yudhiñöhira meant that the king accepted subjugation before him. In case of a king’s refusal to act accordingly, there was certainly a fight. Thus by their influence and strength the brothers conquered all the kings in different directions, and they were able to bring in sufficient taxes and presentations, which they brought before King Yudhiñöhira.

King Yudhiñöhira was very anxious, however, when he heard that King Jaräsandha of Magadha did not accept his sovereignty. Seeing King Yudhiñöhira’s anxiety, Lord Krishna informed him of the plan explained by Uddhava for conquering King Jaräsandha. Bhémasena, Arjuna and Lord Krishna then started together for Girivraja, the capital city of Jaräsandha, dressing themselves in the garb of brähmaëas. This was the plan devised by Uddhava before Lord Krishna started for Hastinäpura, and now it was given practical application.

King Jaräsandha was a very dutiful householder, and he had great respect for the brähmaëas. He was a great fighter, a kñatriya king, but he was never neglectful of the Vedic injunctions. According to Vedic injunctions, the brähmaëas are considered to be the spiritual masters of all other castes. Lord Krishna, Arjuna and Bhémasena were actually kñatriyas, but they dressed themselves as brähmaëas, and at the time when King Jaräsandha was to give charity to the brähmaëas and receive them as guests, they approached him.

Lord Krishna, in the dress of a brähmaëa, said to the King, “We wish all glories to Your Majesty. We three guests at your royal palace have come from a great distance to ask you for charity, and we hope that you will kindly bestow upon us whatever we ask from you. We know about your good qualities. A person who is tolerant is always prepared to tolerate everything, even though distressful. Just as a criminal can perform the most abominable acts, a greatly charitable person like you can give anything and everything for which he is asked. For a great personality like you, there is no distinction between relatives and outsiders. A famous man lives forever, even after his death; therefore, any person who is completely fit and able to execute acts which will perpetuate his good name and fame and yet does not do so becomes abominable in the eyes of great persons. Such a person cannot be condemned enough, and his refusal to give charity is lamentable throughout his whole life. Your Majesty must have heard the glorious names of charitable personalities such as Hariçcandra, Rantideva and Mudgala, who used to live only on grains picked up from the paddy field, and the great Mahäräja Çibi, who saved the life of a pigeon by supplying flesh from his own body. These great personalities have attained immortal fame simply by sacrificing the temporary and perishable body.” Lord Krishna, in the garb of a brähmaëa, thus convinced Jaräsandha that fame is imperishable but the body is perishable. If one can attain imperishable name and fame by sacrificing his perishable body, he becomes a very respectable figure in the history of human civilization.

While Lord Krishna was speaking in the garb of a brähmaëa along with Arjuna and Bhéma, Jaräsandha marked that the three of them did not appear to be actual brähmaëas. There were signs on their bodies by which Jaräsandha could understand that they were kñatriyas. Their shoulders were marked with impressions due to carrying bows, they had beautiful bodily structure, and their voices were grave and commanding. Thus he definitely concluded that they were not brähmaëas but kñatriyas. He also thought that he had seen them somewhere before. But although these three persons were kñatriyas, they had come to his door begging alms like brähmaëas. Therefore he decided that he would fulfill their desires in spite of their being kñatriyas, because they had already diminished their position by appearing before him as beggars. “Under the circumstances,” he thought, “I am prepared to give them anything. Even if they ask for my body, I shall not hesitate to offer it to them.” In this regard, he began to think of Bali Mahäräja. Lord Viñëu in the dress of a brähmaëa appeared as a beggar before Bali and snatched away all of his opulence and his kingdom. He did this for the benefit of Indra, who, having been defeated by Bali Mahäräja, was bereft of his kingdom. Although Bali Mahäräja was cheated, his reputation as a great devotee able to give anything and everything in charity is still glorified throughout the three worlds. Bali Mahäräja could guess that the brähmaëa was Lord Viñëu Himself and had come to him just to take away his opulent kingdom on behalf of Indra. Bali’s spiritual master and family priest, Çukräcärya, repeatedly warned him about this, yet Bali did not hesitate to give in charity whatever the brähmaëa wanted, and at last he gave up everything to that brähmaëa. “It is my strong determination,” thought Jaräsandha, “that if I can achieve immortal reputation by sacrificing this perishable body, I must act for that purpose; the life of a kñatriya who does not live for the benefit of the brähmaëas is certainly condemned.”

Actually King Jaräsandha was very liberal in giving charity to brähmaëas, and thus he informed Lord Krishna, Bhéma and Arjuna: “My dear brähmaëas, you may ask from me whatever you like. If you so desire, you may take my head also. I am prepared to give it.”

After this, Lord Krishna addressed Jaräsandha as follows: “My dear King, please note that we are not actually brähmaëas, nor have we come to ask for food or grains. We are all kñatriyas, and we have come to beg a duel with you. We hope that you will agree to this proposal. You may note that here is the second son of King Päëòu, Bhémasena, and the third son of Päëòu, Arjuna. As for Myself, you may know that I am your old enemy Krishna, the cousin of the Päëòavas.”

When Lord Krishna disclosed their disguise, King Jaräsandha laughed very loudly, and then in great anger and in a grave voice he exclaimed, “You fools! If you want to fight with me, I immediately grant your request. But, Krishna, I know that You are a coward. I refuse to fight with You because You become very confused when You face me in fighting. Out of fear of me You left Your own city, Mathurä, and now You have taken shelter within the sea; therefore I must refuse to fight with You. As far as Arjuna is concerned, I know that he is younger than me and is not an equal fighter. I refuse to fight with him because he is not in any way an equal competitor. But as far as Bhémasena is concerned, I think he is a suitable competitor to fight with me.” After speaking in this way, King Jaräsandha immediately handed a very heavy club to Bhémasena, he himself took another, and all of them went outside the city walls to fight.

Bhémasena and King Jaräsandha engaged themselves in fighting, and with their respective clubs, which were as strong as thunderbolts, they began to strike each other very severely, both of them being eager to fight. They were both expert fighters with clubs, and their techniques of striking each other were so beautiful that they appeared to be two dramatic artists dancing on a stage. When the clubs of Jaräsandha and Bhémasena loudly collided, the impact sounded like that of the big tusks of two fighting elephants or like a thunderbolt in a flashing electrical storm. When two elephants fight together in a sugarcane field, each of them snatches a stick of sugarcane, holds it tightly in its trunk and strikes the other. At that time the sugarcane becomes smashed by such heavy striking. Similarly, when Bhémasena and Jaräsandha were heavily striking each other with their clubs on different parts of their bodies—namely the shoulders, arms, collarbone, chest, thighs, waist and legs—their clubs became torn to pieces. In this way, all of the clubs used by Jaräsandha and Bhémasena became ruined, and so the two enemies prepared to fight with their strong-fisted hands. Jaräsandha and Bhémasena were very angry, and they began to smash each other with their fists. The striking of their fists sounded like the striking of iron bars or like the sound of thunderbolts, and the two warriors appeared to be like two elephants fighting. Neither was able to defeat the other, however, for both were expert in fighting, they were of equal strength, and their fighting techniques were also equal. Neither Jaräsandha nor Bhémasena became fatigued or defeated in the fighting, although they struck each other continuously. At the end of each day’s fighting, they lived at night as friends in Jaräsandha’s palace, and the next day they fought again. In this way they passed twenty-seven days in fighting.

On the twenty-eighth day, Bhémasena told Krishna, “My dear Krishna, I must frankly admit that I cannot conquer Jaräsandha.” Lord Krishna, however, knew the mystery of Jaräsandha’s birth. Jaräsandha had been born in two different parts from two different mothers. When his father saw that the baby was useless, he threw the two parts into the forest. There they were later found by a witch named Jarä, who was skilled in the black arts. She managed to join the two parts of the baby from top to bottom. Knowing this, Lord Krishna therefore also knew how to kill him. He hinted to Bhémasena that since Jaräsandha was brought to life by the joining of the two parts of his body, he could be killed by the separation of these two parts. Thus Lord Krishna transferred His power into the body of Bhémasena and informed him of the device by which Jaräsandha could be killed. Lord Krishna picked up a twig from a tree, took it in His hand, and bifurcated it. In this way He hinted to Bhémasena how Jaräsandha could be killed. Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is omnipotent, and if He wants to kill someone, no one can save that person. Similarly, if He wants to save someone, no one can kill him.

Informed by the hints of Lord Krishna, Bhémasena immediately took hold of Jaräsandha’s legs and threw him to the ground. When Jaräsandha fell, Bhémasena immediately pressed one of Jaräsandha’s legs to the ground and took hold of the other leg with his two hands. Catching Jaräsandha in this way, he tore his body in two, beginning from the anus up to the head. As an elephant breaks the branches of a tree in two, Bhémasena separated the body of Jaräsandha. The audience standing nearby saw that Jaräsandha’s body was now divided into two halves, so that each half had one leg, one thigh, one testicle, half a backbone, half a chest, one collarbone, one arm, one eye, one ear and half a face.

As soon as the news of Jaräsandha’s death was announced, all the citizens of Magadha began to cry, “Alas! Alas!” while Lord Krishna and Arjuna embraced Bhémasena to congratulate him. Although Jaräsandha was killed, neither Krishna nor the two Päëòava brothers made a claim to the throne. Their purpose in killing Jaräsandha was to stop him from creating a disturbance to the proper discharge of world peace. A demon always creates disturbances, whereas a demigod always tries to keep peace in the world. The mission of Lord Krishna is to protect the righteous and kill the demons who disturb a peaceful situation. Therefore Lord Krishna immediately called for the son of Jaräsandha, whose name was Sahadeva, and with due ritualistic ceremonies the Lord asked him to occupy the seat of his father and reign over the kingdom peacefully. Lord Krishna is the master of the whole cosmic creation, and He wants everyone to live peacefully and execute Krishna consciousness. After installing Sahadeva on the throne, He released all the kings and princes who had been imprisoned unnecessarily by Jaräsandha.