Indian mythosophy: The two halves of Jarasandha
This one is well known; Jarāsandha has been represented several times in popular culture. According to myth, Jarāsandha was the son of Bŗhadratha, king of Magadha (present day Bihar), and grew up to be the most influential king of the Indian heartland. But that is not his only claim to fame. His aura stems from his birth: Jarāsandha was born out of two mothers, in two halves. No, literally; no Yin-Yang duality here, just two mounds of flesh.
Okay, so this will be a mouthful. But we’ll tease out the layers of fantasy that might have been appended by later authors, and examine this part in detail. As per the myth goes, the two halves of Jarāsandha, lifeless as they were, was a ghastly sight. The king Bŗhadratha ordered the two parts to be thrown into the jungle, and so baby Jarāsandha, in two halves and still quite dead, ended up in a wrapped in a sheet in a desolate jungle.
One might see through the veil of phantasmagoria and recognise that it is quite unlikely that Jarāsandha was born in two entirely separate parts, but that he suffered from some kind of defect in the midline of his body, so that his skin was not properly closed all around. Such ‘midline closure defects’ are still very common, ranging from 1 in 2800 (cleft lip)¹ to 1 in 4800 (omphalocele)². They can occur in front of the body (i.e. omphalocele, where the belly is still open and the intestine pokes out; in exstrophy of the bladder, the urinary bladder may be exposed) or back (i.e. neural tube defects, where some part of spine might be open).
What is most likely is that Jarāsandha was suffering from such a defect in its most severe form, and showed no signs of life at birth (as some newborns often do, until they are resuscitated). In this case, Jarāsandha was resuscitated by a tribal lady, Jarā, who lived in the jungle (Some versions describe Jarā as a demon, which is quite unlikely considering her next actions). What’s more interesting is that Jarā also stitched up Jarāsandha, tight and proper (and also gave him his name, ‘Jarāsandha’, which means ‘sewn up by Jarā’). Fiction must be never taken literally, but this is one of the first recorded mentions of fetal-neonatal surgery. Which can only mean even if the proper techniques of such a surgery was still unknown, the concept was already there. People cannot write of things that are beoynd their imagination. And if we go by the myth, Jarā succeeded and how! Her sutures held Jarāsandha so tight that he grew up to be the strongest, fiercest warrior king of India.
But growing up, it seems, the two halves of Jarāsandha took an allegorical turn. He was strong, wise, just, and a devotee of Śiva (one-third of the Hindu trinity), ideal king-material. On the other hand, he committed a serious error of judgment in marrying his daughters to Kansa, the tyrant of Mathurā. Jarāsandha was without a son, so the only way of producing a male heir to the throne was through his daughters. However, his hopes were squandered when Kansa was killed by Kŗśņa, and Jarāsandha — now blinded by vengeance — declared open war on Kŗśņa. His repeated onslaughts on Mathurā forced Kŗśņa to shift his capital to Dwarkā (present day Gujrat).
As if enmity with Kŗśņa was not enough, Jarāsandha ended up on the wrong side of the Pāndavas, who were allied with Kŗśņa. The elder Pāndava, Yudhiśhthira, was about to declare himself Emperor of India in a ceremony, and Jarāsandha was a major hurdle on the way. It is never mentioned whether Jarāsandha actually objected to Yudhiśhthira’s coronation, or not. But Kŗśņa and the Pāndavas reasoned that since Jarāsandha was the power center of India, it’s best to eliminate him beforehand.
The Mahābhārata is full of unresolved mysteries; like why did Kŗśņa and two Pāndavas (Arjuna & Bhíma) had to camouflage as civilians to go and fight Jarāsandha in Magadha. Possibly, it was a ploy on the part of Kŗśņa to avoid escalation to a full-on battle. Instead, he challenged Jarāsandha in person to fight anyone, of his ( Jarāsandha’s) choice, among the three — Kŗśņa, Arjuna & Bhíma.
It is likely that Jarāsandha recognised the trio immediately; he was, after all, a king of central India with a wide network of informants. He would have known that Arjuna was the unrivaled archer, and Bhíma the fabled wrestler, both with an illustrious history of victories. There was, of course, no point fighting Kŗśņa, the God incarnate, who would bring a quick death to Jarāsandha. Neither was Jarāsandha interested in a contest of bow and arrows. Remember, at this point, Jarāsandha has already lost his dynasty: he had no successor to the throne. His empire was to be dismantled by the onslaught of the Pāndavas, sooner or later. No. Jarāsandha wanted a spectacle for his exit, a scene so gruesome, so haunting, that it will be remembered for aeons to come. He chose Bhíma for a wrestling match.³
The match was legendary, and has been depicted in several later adapted works and television series. The site of the match, ‘Jarasandh ki Akhada’ is still preserved in Bihar. After several days of wrestling each other, no one came out on top, until Kŗśņa — who knew Jarāsandha’s secret origins — intervened. He signaled Bhíma to pull at Jarāsandha’s midline, possibly his spine. In an instant, Bhíma tore apart Jarāsandha in half, and that was the end of Jarāsandha. He left in the same manner as he had come — in two halves.
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1. Cleft lip (CDC). https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/cleftlip.html
2. Omphalocele (CDC). https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/omphalocele.html.
3. The story of Jarasandha. https://www.mahabharataonline.com/stories/mahabharata_character.php?id=91
