Krishna, Bheema and Arjuna disguised themselves as brahmanas and reached Jarasandha’s capital city, Girivraja. They came to his assembly hall where mighty Jarasandha was busy giving gifts to various visitors as kings were supposed to do.
Krishna approached and spoke, “O King, we come here with a request. Give us what we seek just as you give gifts to all those assembled here.”
Jarasandha took a closer look at the brahmana who stood before him and at the other two who accompanied him. He saw their powerful physique, the scars made by bowstrings upon their wrists and forearms, the callouses palms and he realised they were kshatriyas. Yet, he did not wish to send them away. He remembered King Bali of old, who had won eternal fame for his generosity.
Jarasandha confidently declared, “Ask, brahmana! I shall give you whatever you ask for!”
Krishna smiled, knowing fully well that Jarasandha had not been fooled by their disguise. He did not need to be fooled anyway! The reason for them to come as brahmanas was that they did not wish to come with an army and start a full fledged war that would involve so much destruction. Anyhow, Jarasandha could only be killed in a one-on-one battle.
“Jarasandha, I am Krishna of the Yadavas. These are the Pandu putras, Bheema and Arjuna. We wish to challenge you to a combat. Choose one of us to be your opponent.”
Jarasandha’s face turned purple with rage. Now that he looked close, he recognised Krishna as his old enemy.
“YOU!” he hissed, furiously. And then he thought. He had not forgotten how the extraordinarily strong wrestlers Chanura- Mushtika had died. Kamsa himself was a mighty wrestler and he too had died at Krishna’s hands. Krishna had defeated his army easily 17 times, denting Jarasandha’s ego rather badly. It was better to avoid him. In fact, this was a good time to rebuild some of his damaged reputation by fighting the mighty Bheemasena who was known to possess the strength of 10,000 elephants. And so, he declared in a confident voice, “You are a weakling who ran away from me 17 times. I shall not fight you. Arjuna is an archer, not a wrestler and he is a child, I shall not fight him either. Bheema is the opponent I choose. When he loses, Indraprastha will be mine and your Dwaraka too.”
This is exactly what Krishna had expected and wanted. The trio smiled and accepted the terms.
The two opponents were experts in wielding the mace and so that was the weapon they chose for their battle. The combat was held in a ground outside the fortifications of Girivraja. Both opponents stood in the middle of the ground. The praja and ministers had gathered to watch and of course, Krishna and Arjuna stood by too.
The duel began and both mighty mace wielders attacked with their gigantic weapons. The CLANNGGGG! of the diamond studded maces rang through the air and left the viewers clapping their hands over their ears. Bheema landed blows on Jarasandha’s body and Jarasandha retaliated with similar blows. Both men were bruised and bloody in a very short while. Their maces, made from the strongest iron and created to withstand the heaviest of blows, broke apart from sustaining the impact of an equally massive weapon.
They began to use their fists now to rain blows upon each other. It seemed that the opponents were equally matched, trading blow for blow, attack for attack, feint for feint. The fight went on all day until the sun set and the conch was blown to signal the end of the match. Neither Bheema nor Jarasandha had gained the upper hand. They would resume the battle the next morning.
Great retelling of this Mahabharata episode. The tactical decision to approach as brahmanas rather than warriors really underscores Krishna's strategic thinking, basically forcing a 1v1 scenario instad of full-scale warfare. Jarasandha's psychological read on avoiding Krishna shows how reputaton shapes combat choices.