The Miraculous Birth of Jarasandha

Yudhishthira now appeared reassured. He wished to know more about Jarasandha. Krishna said, "Jarasandha's father, King Brihadratha, ruled Magadha. He had married two princesses of Kashi (Varanasi). Unfortunately, the king had no children, and as he grew older, he began to worry about this.

"Once, Sage Chandrakaushik came to Magadha. For some time, he sat beneath a mango tree. When King Brihadratha received news of the sage's arrival, he immediately set out to seek his blessings. The king touched the sage's feet and told him about his unhappiness at having no children. The sage had just closed his eyes and begun to meditate when a mango fell from the tree.

"The sage picked up the fruit, gave it to the king, and told him to have one of his queens eat it. The king gave the mango to his queens. Alas, the two queens split the mango in half, and each ate one half. Nine months later, each queen bore half a baby. The queens ordered a servant to dispose of the two halves at a secluded spot outside the city.

"A demoness called Jara saw the two halves of the baby and put them on a plate to eat them. And voilà—the two halves joined to form a baby boy, who started crying and flailing his arms and legs.

"News of this spread through the city like wildfire. The demoness arrived at the king's court with the infant. When the queens heard the demoness's story, they were stunned. They looked at each other guiltily and admitted that they had told their servant to dispose of the two halves of the baby. When the king learnt that the infant was his, his joy knew no bounds. The child was named Jarasandha, meaning 'joined by Jara'.

"Sage Chandrakaushik came to the court and blessed the boy. He prophesied that Jarasandha would grow up to be a handsome and brave man who would defeat several kings in battle. However, he said, the boy would meet a tragic end. As he was born in two pieces, he would die when a powerful prince tore him into two."