In the great assembly of respectable persons, citizens, friends, relatives, brahmanas, ksatriyas and vaisyas, King Yudhisthira, in the presence of all, including his brothers, directly addressed Lord Krsna as follows: "My dear Lord Krsna, the sacrifice known as the Rajasuya yajna is to be performed by the emperor, and it is considered to be 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 will kindly help me in this great adventure so that it may be successfully executed. As far as the Pandavas are concerned, we have nothing to ask from the demigods. We are personally fully satisfied by being Your devotees. As You say in the Bhagavad-gita, "Persons who are bewildered by material desires worship the demigods," but our purpose is different. I want to perform this Rajasuya sacrifice and invite the demigods to show them that they have no power independent of You. 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 Rajasuya yajna. I wish to invite all the demigods, beginning from Lord Brahma, Lord Siva 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 Krsna consciousness and who think of Your lotus feet or of Your shoes certainly become free from all contamination of material life. Persons who are engaged in Your service in full Krsna consciousness, who meditate upon You only or who offer prayers unto You, are purified souls. Being constantly engaged in Krsna conscious service, such persons become freed from the cycle of repeated birth and death. They do not even desire to become freed from this material existence or to enjoy material opulences; their desires are fulfilled by Krsna conscious activities. As far as we are concerned, we are fully surrendered unto Your lotus feet, and by Your grace we are so fortunate 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. Thus, if one takes to Krsna consciousness, his life becomes fulfilled both materially and spiritually.

"This does not mean that You are partial to the Krsna conscious person and are indifferent to the non-Krsna conscious person. You are equal to everyone; that is Your declaration. You cannot be partial to one and not interested in others because You are sitting in everyone's heart as the Supersoul and giving everyone the respective results of his fruitive activities. You give every living entity the chance to enjoy this material world as he desires. As Supersoul, You are sitting in the body along with the living entity, giving him the results of his own actions as well as opportunities to turn toward Your devotional service by developing Krsna 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. 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 benediction is not due to partiality."

On hearing this statement of King Yudhisthira, Lord Krsna replied as follows: "My dear King Yudhisthira, O killer of enemies, O ideal justice personified, I completely support your decision to perform the Rajasuya sacrifice. By performing this great sacrifice, your good name will remain well established forever in the history of human civilization. My dear King, may I inform you that it is the desire of all great sages, your forefathers, the demigods, and your relatives and friends, including Myself, that you perform this sacrifice, and I think that it will satisfy every living entity. But, because it is necessary, I request that you first of all conquer all the kings of the world and collect all requisite paraphernalia for executing this great sacrifice. My dear King Yudhisthira, your four brothers are direct representatives of important demigods like Varuna, Indra, etc. [It is said that Bhima was born of the demigod Varuna, and Arjuna was born of the demigod Indra, whereas King Yudhisthira himself was born of the demigod Yamaraja.] Your brothers are great heroes, and you are the most pious and self-controlled king and are therefore known as Dharmaraja. All of you are so qualified in devotional service unto Me that automatically I have become rivalled by you."

Lord Krsna told King Yudhisthira that He becomes 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 Pandava brothers was that they always engaged their senses in the service of the Lord. One who thus engages his senses becomes purified, and with purified senses one can actually render service to the Lord. The Lord can thus be conquered by the devotee by loving transcendental service.

Lord Krsna 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 Krsna thus encouraged King Yudhisthira, 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 Krsna empowered the Pandavas to execute His great mission of chastising the infidel miscreants of the world and giving protection to His faithful devotees. In His Visnu form, the Lord therefore carries four kinds of weapons in His four hands. He carries a lotus flower and a conchshell in two hands, and in the other two hands He carries a club and a disc. The club and disc are meant for the nondevotees, but because the Lord is the Supreme Absolute, the resultant action 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. Over 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 Yudhisthira, being thus assured by the indication of Lord Krsna, ordered his youngest brother, Sahadeva, accompanied by soldiers of the Srnjaya tribe, to conquer the southern countries. Similarly, he ordered Nakula, accompanied by the soldiers of Matsyadesa, to conquer the kings of the western side. He sent Arjuna, accompanied by the soldiers of Kekayadesa, to conquer the kings of the northern side, and Bhimasena, accompanied by the soldiers of Madradesa (Madras), was ordered to conquer the kings on the eastern side.

It may be noted that by dispatching his younger brothers to conquer in different directions, King Yudhisthira did not actually intend that they declare war with the kings. Actually, the brothers started for different directions to inform the respective kings about King Yudhisthira's intention to perform the Rajasuya 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 Yudhisthira meant that the king accepted his 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. These were brought before King Yudhisthira by his brothers.

King Yudhisthira was very anxious, however, when he heard that King Jarasandha of Magadha did not accept his sovereignty. Seeing King Yudhisthira's anxiety, Lord Krsna informed him of the plan explained by Uddhava for conquering King Jarasandha. Bhimasena, Arjuna and Lord Krsna then started together for Girivraja, the capital city of Jarasandha, dressing themselves in the garb of brahmanas. This was the plan devised by Uddhava before Lord Krsna started for Hastinapura, and now it was given practical application.

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

Lord Krsna, in the dress of a brahmana, said to the King: "We wish all glories to Your Majesty. We are three guests at your royal palace, and we are coming from a great distance. We have come 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, so a greatly charitable person like you can give anything and everything he is asked for. 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 Hariscandra, Rantideva and Mudgala, who used to live only on grains picked up from the paddy field, and the great Maharaja Sibi, who saved the life of a pigeon by supplying flesh from his own body. These great personalities have attained immortal fame simply by sacrificing this temporary and perishable body." Lord Krsna, in the garb of a brahmana, thus informed Jarasandha 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 Krsna was speaking in the garb of a brahmana along with Arjuna and Bhima, Jarasandha marked that the three of them did not appear to be actual brahmanas. There were signs on their bodies by which Jarasandha could understand that they were ksatriyas. Their shoulders were marked with an impression due to carrying bows; they had beautiful bodily structure, and their voices were grave and commanding. Thus he definitely concluded that they were not brahmanas, but ksatriyas. He was also thinking that he had seen them somewhere before. Although these three persons were ksatriyas, they had come to his door begging alms like brahmanas. Therefore he decided that he would fulfill their desires, in spite of their being ksatriyas. He thought in this way because their position had already been diminished by their 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 Maharaja. Lord Visnu in the dress of a brahmana appeared as a beggar before Bali, and in that way He snatched away all of his opulence and kingdom. He did this for the benefit of Indra, who, having been defeated by Bali Maharaja, was bereft of his kingdom. Although Bali Maharaja was cheated, his reputation as a great devotee who was able to give anything and everything in charity is still glorified throughout the three worlds. Bali Maharaja could guess that the brahmana was Lord Visnu Himself and that He had come to him just to take away his opulent kingdom on behalf of Indra. Bali's spiritual master and family priest, Sukracarya, repeatedly warned him about this, and yet Bali did not hesitate to give in charity whatever the brahmana wanted, and at last he gave up everything to that brahmana. "It is my strong determination," thought Jarasandha, "that if I can achieve immortal reputation by sacrificing this perishable body, I must act for that purpose; the life of a ksatriya who does not live for the benefit of the brahmana is certainly condemned."

Actually King Jarasandha was very liberal in giving charity to the brahmanas, and thus he informed Lord Krsna, Bhima and Arjuna: "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."

After this, Lord Krsna addressed Jarasandha as follows: "My dear King, please note that we are not actually brahmanas, nor have we come to ask for foodstuffs or grains. We are all ksatriyas, 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 Pandu, Bhimasena, and the third son of Pandu, Arjuna. As for Myself, you may know that I am your old enemy, Krsna, the cousin of the Pandavas."

When Lord Krsna disclosed their disguise, King Jarasandha began to laugh 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, Krsna, 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, Mathura, 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 Bhimasena is concerned, I think he is a suitable competitor to fight with me." After speaking in this way, King Jarasandha immediately handed a very heavy club to Bhimasena, and he himself took another, and thus all of them went outside the city walls to fight.

Bhimasena and King 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. They were both expert fighters with clubs, and their techniques of striking one another were so beautiful that they appeared to be two dramatic artists dancing on a stage. When the clubs of Jarasandha and Bhimasena loudly collided, they sounded like the impact 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 and, by catching it tightly in its trunk, strikes the other. Each elephant heavily strikes his enemy's shoulders, arms, collarbones, chest, thighs, waist, and legs, and in this way the sticks of sugarcane are smashed. Similarly, all the clubs used by Jarasandha and Bhimasena were broken, and so the two enemies prepared to fight with their strong fisted hands. Jarasandha and Bhimasena 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 they appeared to be like two elephants fighting. Unfortunately, however, neither was able to defeat the other because both were very expert in fighting, both were of equal strength, and their fighting techniques were equal also. Neither Jarasandha nor Bhimasena became fatigued or defeated in the fighting, although they struck each other continually. At the end of a day's fighting, both lived at night as friends in Jarasandha's palace, and the next day they fought again. In this way they passed twenty-seven days in fighting.

On the twenty-eighth day, Bhimasena told Krsna, "My dear Krsna, I must frankly admit that I cannot conquer Jarasandha." Lord Krsna, however, knew the mystery of the birth of Jarasandha. Jarasandha 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. Knowing this, Lord Krsna therefore also knew how to kill him. He gave hints to Bhimasena that since Jarasandha 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 Krsna transferred His power into the body of Bhimasena and informed him of the device by which Jarasandha could be killed. Lord Krsna immediately picked up a twig from a tree and, taking it in His hand, bifurcated it. In this way He hinted to Bhimasena how Jarasandha could be killed. Lord Krsna, 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 Krsna, Bhimasena immediately took hold of the legs of Jarasandha and threw him to the ground. When Jarasandha fell to the ground, Bhimasena immediately pressed one of Jarasandha's legs to the ground and took hold of the other leg with his two hands. Catching Jarasandha 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, so Bhimasena separated the body of Jarasandha. The audience standing nearby saw that the body of Jarasandha was now divided into two halves, so that each half had one leg, one thigh, one testicle, one breast, half a backbone, half a chest, one collarbone, one arm, one eye, one ear and half a face.

As soon as the news of Jarasandha's death was announced, all the citizens of Magadha began to cry, "Alas, alas," while Lord Krsna and Arjuna embraced Bhimasena to congratulate him. Although Jarasandha was killed, neither Krsna nor the two Pandava brothers made a claim to the throne. Their purpose in killing Jarasandha was to stop him from creating a disturbance against 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 Krsna is to give protection the righteous persons and to kill the demons who disturb a peaceful situation. Therefore Lord Krsna immediately called for the son of Jarasandha, whose name was Sahadeva, and with due ritualistic ceremonies He asked him to occupy the seat of his father and reign over the kingdom peacefully. Lord Krsna is the master of the whole cosmic creation, and He wants everyone to live peacefully and execute Krsna consciousness. After installing Sahadeva on the throne, He released all the kings and princes who had been imprisoned unnecessarily by Jarasandha.

Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta purport of the Second Volume, Seventeenth Chapter, of Krsna, "The Liberation of King Jarasandha."