THE RAJASUYA SACRIFICE & THE LIBERATION OF JARASANDA

This material world is a place of darknes... ignorance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna. Even five thousand years ago, when Lord Sri Krsna was personally present on this planet, there was need for broadcasting his glories and promulgating the philosophy of Krsna consciousness. Just as today that most auspicious task has been taken up by International Society for Krsna consciousness, so five thousand years ago, Maharaj Yudhisthira, the emperor of all the world, made this glorious endeavour, by performing the Rajasuya sacriface.

Hearing about Maharaj Yudhathira's intention to perform such a great sacrifaie, Narada Muni travelled to Dvaraka, to the assembly house known as Sudharma, where Lord Krsna and his associates of the Yadu dynasty were, at that time, being entertained....

SCENE ONE SUDHARMA. LORD SRI KRSNA AND HIS ASSOCIATES ARE BEING ENTERTAINED BY JOKERS AND SINGERS. ENTER A SERVANT.....

Servant: My Lord, kindly forgive this intrusion, but there is a messenger to see You... he says it is a matter of life and death!

Lord Krsna: All right, send him in. Thank you, Jester.

Messenger: (offers obeisances and rises) My dear Lord, Your mercy and power are beyond estimation. Although I am most fallen and degraded, I have come to take shelter of Your lotus feet. Please hear the message I have been instructed to give You. As You know the evil king Jarasandha has conquered many kingdoms. Those kings who would not bow before him... numbering twenty thousand... have been arrested and imprisoned within the cave of a mountain and every day one of the kings is offered in human sacriface to Lord Siva. My dear Lord, all these kings are very anxious to see You so that they can personally surrender at Your lotus feet. Please be merciful to them and act for their good fortune.

Lord Krsna: Let us consider how to attack the kingdom of Jarasandha.(Narada Muni suddenly enters...)

Lord Krsna: My dear Narada... please be seated. We are very much honoured by your presence. Indeed, I think that now everything is well within the three worlds. Surely nothing in the universe is concealed from your knowledge. Kindly let Me know how the Pandavas are doing. What is the present plan of King Yudhisthira?

Narada: My dear Lord, You are the Supreme Personalty of Godhead, the controller of the all created worlds, and the knower of everything. Still you enact your pastimes, exactly like an actor who performs upon the stage. In this way, in the role of well-wisher to the Pandavas, You have inquired about their activities, thus by Your grace I shall let you know about them. First of all Maharaj Yudhisthira, who possesses all material opulence, intends to perform the Rajasuya sacriface, only in order to get Your association and to please You. He wishes to worship You to achieve Your causeless mercy, and therefore I beg to request You to go to Hastinapura and fulfill his desire.

Aide 1: But my Lord, if You go to Hastinapura, who will liberate the twenty thousand kings imprisoned by Jarasandha?

Aide 2: Yes my Lord. With all due respects to the great sage Narada, we feel that this rascal Jarasandha should be dethorned immediately.

Lord Krsna: My dear Uddhava, you are always my well-wishing confidetial friend and therefore I wish to see everything through you. What should I do?

Uddhava: Unless we are victorious over all the kings, no-one can perform this Rajasuya sacriface. In words, King Yudhisthira cannot perform this great sacriface, without gaining victory over the belligerent king Jarasandha. Therefore to execute both purposes, we must first kill Jarasandha.

Aide 1: But Jarasandha is not an ordinary man.

Aide 2: Yes, his bodily strength is equal to the strength of ten thousand elephants.

Uddhava: If there is anyone who can conquer this king, he is none other than Bhimasena, because he also possesses the strength of ten thousand elephants. The best thing would be for Bhimasena to fight alone with him, then there would be no unnecessary killing of many soldiers. Hmmm. Yes! I have a plan, how we could arrange such a fight: We all know that Jarasandha is very much devoted to the brahmanas... Well my idea is this... (curtain closes and music fades in to drown out conversation)

SCENE TWO HASTINAPURA LORD KRSNA IS BEING ADDRESSED BY MAHARAJ YUDHISTHIRA, WHO IS SURROUNDED BY HIS BROTHERS AND OTHERS......

Narration: After hearing the advice of Uddhava, which was appreciated by everyone present including Narada Muni, and the elderly members of the Yadu dynasty, Lord Sri Krsna prepared to execute the first part of His plan, which was to go immediately to Hastinapura where Yudhisthira Maharaj was residing. Having assured the messenger that He would very soon rescue the imprisoned kings held by king Jarasandha, Lord Krsna set off in His chariot, accompained by many other chariots, along with elephants, cavarly, infantry and similar royal paraphernalia. In this way the procession of Lord Krsna's party gradually passed through Gujarat, Sauret, the great desert of Rajasthan and then Kuruksetra, and at last the Lord arrived in Hastinapura, which is also known as Indraprastha city. When king Yudhisthira heard that Lord Krsna had already arrived in his capital city, he became so joyful that all his hairs stood on end in great ecstacy and he immediately came out of the city to properly receive Him. Upon seeing the Lord, the five Pandavas became overwhelmed with affection and embraced Him again and again out of their great love. Lord Krsna in order to please king Yudhisthira remained in the city for some time and engaged in many pastimes with His devotees there.....

Yudhisthira: My dear Lord Krsna, foolish persons consider Your Lordship an ordinary human being, and try to find fault with You. Therefore I wish to perform this Rajasuya sacrifice. I will invite all the demigods, beginning with Lord Brahma and Lord Siva and I will show the world that You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and that everyone else, including the demigods, are your servants.

Lord Krsna: My dear king Yudhisthira, o ideal justice personified, I completely support your decision to perform the Rajasuya sacriface, for such a sacrifice will satisfy every living entity and will establish your good name forever in the history of human civilisation. But first of all, it is necessary for you to conquer all the kings of the world and collect all requisite paraphernalia for executing this sacrifice.

Yudhisthira: Then I shall despatch my brothers to conquer in all directions. Sahadeva! You will conquer the southern countries. Nakula! The kings of the western side should be conquered by you. Arjuna! Your conquest will be over the northern kings. And you, Bhimasena, will conquer the kings of the east. It is not my intention to declare war upon these kings, but you may inform them that they are required to pay taxes for the execution of the sacrifice. Howerver if any king refuses to act accordingly, then we must certainly fight!

Bhimasena: (enlivened) That's what I like to hear! Come my brothers, ther is no time to waste!

SCENE THREE HATINAPURA

Narration: Thereafter, the four brothers, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva set off in different directions to conquer and by their strength and influence they won over all the kings and thus they were able to acquire sufficient taxes and presentations.

Yudhisthira and Lord Krsna are on stage. Enter the brothers.....

Yudhisthira: Ah, my dear brothers! How did you fare?

Arjuna: By your blessings and by the mercy of Krsna, we have met with great success!

Bhima: Yes, every king down to a man has accepted your position as emperor of the world.

Nakula: Except for one! (others exclaim)

Sahadeva: King Jarasandha of Magadha refuses to accept your sovereignty!

Yudhisthira: What? Jarasandha!

Lord Krsna: Unless we are victorious over all the kings we cannot perform this Rajasuya sacrifice.

Sahadeva: Jarasandha possesses the strength of ten thousand elephants....

Nakula: And his armies are most powerful!

Arjuna: Bhimasena also possesses such strength... he alone can conquer him.

Yudhisthira: But what of his armies? We will lose many soldiers.....

Lord Krsna: Yudhisthira! Do not fear. My friend Uddhava has instructed Me how this rascal Jarasandha can be defeated. Listen carefully how we shall do this. Now as you all know, Jarasandha is very much inclined towards the brahmanas....

SCENE FOUR JARASANDHA'S PALACE

Jarasandha:What a joke! Yudhisthira wants to perform the Rajasuya sacrifice. But he cannot do so unless he conquers all the kings of the world.... including me, Jarasandha! (laughs) What an impudent fool! To even dare to dream about surpassing my strength, why if it wasn't so comical, I'd get damn annoyed! Haven't they understood yet, that my bodily strength is immeasurable? That my military legions are unconquerable? Obviously, by worshipping this Krsna, they lost all intelligence!

Ha! Krsna, what kind of a ksatriya is he? Why the last time we met he fled from the battlefield in complete fear of my prowess!

Aide: Your majesty.

Jarasandha: Oh yes. See that all my household affairs are duly performed. You have carefully noted down the requests of all my queens?

Aide: Yes my lord.

Jarasandha: Good. See that they are carried out. And make sure that all due sacrifices and oblations are properly executed. One can never be too careful in following the Vedic injunctions.

Aide: Yes my lord.

Jarasandha: And one more thing. Twenty thousand fools who would not bow down to me are now within my dungeons. Release one from his shackles to be offered in sacrifice to Lord Siva, my Lord and benefactor.

Aide: Yes your majesty. Your majesty, there are some brahmanas to see you.

Jarasandha: Oh brahmanas. Show them in immediately.

Lord Krsna: We wish all glories to your majesty. We are three guests at your royal palace and we are coming from great distance. We know about your good qualities and we have come to ask you charity. We hope that you will kindly bestow upon us whatever we may ask.

Jarasandha: (to aide) They do not appear to be actual brahmanas. Mark the different signs on their bodies. Their shoulders are marked with an impression due to their carrying bows; they have beautiful bodily structures, and their voices are grave and commanding. Therefore I can understand that they are warriors; and it appears that I have seen them somewhere before. However, they have come to my door begging alms like brahmanas. Therefore in spite of their ........, I am prepared to give them anything. Even if they ask for my body, I shall not hesitate to offer it to them. If I can achieve immortal reputation by this perishable body, I must act for that purpose.

(aloud) My dear brahmanas, you can ask from me whatever you like. If you so desire you can take my head also. I am prepared to give it.

Lord Krsna: My dear king, please note that we are not actually brahmanas. We are all warriors, and we have come to beg a duel with you. We hope that you will agree to this proposal. You may note that here are two of the Pandavas; Bhimasena and Arjuna. As for Myself, you may know that I am your old enemy, Krsna

Jarasandha: You fools! If you want to fight with me, I immediately grant your request. But Krsna, I know that you are a coward. I refuse to fight with You because You become very confused when You face me in battle. As for Arjuna, I know that he is younger than me and is not in any way an equal competitor. But as far as Bhimasena is concerned... yes! I think he is a suitable match for me. Come! We shall battle outside the city walls.

SCENE FIVE OUTSIDE THE CITY WALLS THE FIGHT

Bhimasena and Jarasandha engaged themselves in fighting and with

their respective clubs, which were as strong as thunderbolts, they began to strike one another very severely, both of them being eager to fight ...... in this way the fight goes on until at last, evening approaches.....

Bhimasena: (breathing heavily) Night approaches.

Jarasandha: Yes. The day fighting is ended. Come, let us dine at my place. We shall continue this business in the morning.

(They exit along with Krsna, Arjuna and others) Curtain

SCENE SIX THE SLAYING OF JARASANDHA

Narration: As evening fell, the two great fighters, Bhimasena and Jarasandha stopped fighting and lived together as friends in Jarasandhas palace until the next morning when the fight continued with even greater ferocity than the previous day. Like two fierce elephants Bhima and Jarasandha smashed each other with their clubs. Day after day the fighting went on and eventualy all the clubs used by Bhima and Jarasandha were broken and so the two enemies began to strike each other with their fists and this made the sound like thunderbolts. Unfortunately, however, neither was able to defeat the other and for twenty seven days they were equally matched blow for blow........

(Bhima, Lord Krsna, Arjuna, Jarasandha and aide are preparing for another days fight)

Bhimasena: My dear Krsna, after twenty seven days of fighting, I must frankly admit that I cannot conquer Jarasandha. We are both of equal strength and our fighting techniques are equal also.

Krsna: Listen carefully, Bhimasena, there is a mystery behind the birth of Jarasandha. He was born in two different parts from two different mothers. When his father saw that the baby was useless, he threw the two parts in the forest, where they were later found by a black-hearted witch named Jara. She managed to join the two parts of the baby from top to bottom......

Bhimasena: But how is he to be slain?

Jarasandha: Come along, Bhimasena! The morning has passing, are we to fight or have you lost your nerve?

(Bhimasena moves away from Krsna in order to begin the fight. At that moment, the Lord picks up a twig from a tree and, in front of Bhima, He bifurcates it......)

Jarasandha: All right Bhima, I have decided to put you out of your misery. For a long I have played with you. Now I shall show no mercy!

(The fight begins and after some fierce attacks from Jarasandha, Bhima though appearing to be having a hard time, picks up Jarasandha by the leg and bifurcates him!)

Krsna & Arjuna: Jaya! Well done, Bhima! (they embrace him)

Krsna: Come now. Let us go and release all the imprisoned kings from the mountain cave.

(EXIT ALL & CURTAIN)

SCENE SEVEN THE RAJASUYA SACRIFICE

Narration: After the annihilation of Jarasandha, Lord Krsna

immediately called for the son of Jarasandha, whose name was Sahadeva, and after installing him upon the throne, He released all the kings and princes who had been imprisoned by Jarasandha. Then the Lord returned to the city of Hastinapura, accompanied by Bhima and Arjuna. When they heard the sound of Krsna's conchshell as he approached the city, the citizens of Hastinapura felt their hearts become joyful, because they could understand that Jarasandha had been killed. King Yudhisthira attentively heard the narration of the killing of Jarasandha and the tactics adopted by Lord Krsna to achieve that, and afterwards he became even more bound in love for Krsna; tears of ecstacty glided from his eyes and he became so stunned that he was almost unable to speak.

Yudhisthira: My dear Krsna, o eternal form of bliss and knowledge, all the demigods, including Lord Brahma, Lord Siva and Lord Indra, are always anxious to carry out your orders which they treasure in their hearts, considering themselves most fortunate to receive such orders. O Krsna, You are unlimted, and although we sometimes think of ourselves as royal kings of this world, and become puffed up in our meagre positions, actually we are very poor in heart. We are fit to be punished by You, but instead of punishing us, You so kindly and mercifully accept our orders and carry them out properly. Others are surprised that Your Lordship can play the part of an ordinary human being, but we can understand that You are performing these activities just like a dramatic artist. Your postion is always exalted, therefore You are just like the sun, which only appears to rise and set, but which always maintains its intensity of heat and light. My dear Madhava, You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus You are never defeated by anyone.

Let us now perform the Rajasuya sacrifice. Let me see now. Bhimasena, you shall be in charge of the kitchen department and Nakula, you shall take charge of the store department.

Arjuna: Yudhisthira, I wish to look after the comforts of the elderly persons.

Yudhisthira: So be it! And Sahadeva, you be in charge of the reception

department. See that someone washes the feet of all incoming guests. That will be very nice.

Lord Krsna:Yudhisthira, let Me take charge of that matter.

Yudhisthira: What? But my Lord, I could not ask such a thing of You.

Lord Krsna: My dear Yudhistira, to engage in your service pleases me so much

more than receiving service or glorification from You. Come now, let us begin at once!

SCENE EIGHT THE SACRIFICE

Yudhisthira: Gentlemen! Gentlemen! All hte members present here in this

sacrificial assembly are very exalted personlities. Present here are all the

exalted demigods, brahmanas, sages and kings from all parts of the universe.

Therefore let us now consider, with due deliberation, who shall be worshipped

first in this great ceremony.

(voices call out different names...)

Voices: I recommend Lord Brahma... Lord Siva... Lord Indra... Chandra, etc

Sahadeva: My dear friends! Lord Krsna, the best amongst the Yadu dynasty, and

the protector of His devotees, is most exalted personality in this assembly. I think that He without any objection, should be offered the honour of being

worshipped first. Although Lord Brahma, Lord Siva and many other great

personalities are present here, no-one can be equal to or greater than Krsna,

not in wealth, strength, reputation, wisdom or any other consideration. Lord

Krsna is present as the Supersoul in the heart of every living being, so if we can satisfy Him, then automatically every being becomes satisfied.

Everyone: Jaya! Jaya! (Maharaj Yudhisthira and his family members begin to wash the lotus feet of Lord Krsna and afterwards they sprinkle the water on their heads. Then they offer the Lord silken garments and jewelled ornaments. At that time all the members in the assembly stand up with folded hands and begin to chant "Jaya! Jaya! Namah! Namah!" When all join together respectful obeisances to Krsna, there are showers of flowers from the sky..............)

Sri Krsna Bhagavan ki jaya!

Curtain