There was a mighty king named Vrihadrath, who was the lord of the Magadh. He had a huge army and very powerful king. He married two beautiful daughters of the king of Kasi, who were twins. He loved them equally. But even as his youth passed, he failed to obtain a son to perpetuate his race, even by means of various auspicious rites and sacrifices performed with the desire for having an offspring. So along with his two wives, he visited a Muni named Chandakaushik who was holding forth under the shade of a mango tree outside the capital.
Happy with his devoted offerings and prayers, the sage desired to bless the king with a boon, of his choice. The king bowed to the feet of the ascetic with his wives and asked to be blessed with a son to carry his lineage. Hearing the fervent prayers of the king, the Muni controlling his outer senses entered meditation. A ripe and juicy mango from the tree above fell upon the lap of the seated sage. He took up the fruit and chanted some Mantras over it. Then he gave it to king Vrihadrath, blessing him with the fruit and saying that the fruit will provide him with an offspring.
Coming back to the palace he gave the single fruit to his two wives and asked them to eat it. The two queens cut the fruit in two parts and ate it up. Soon, the words of the sage were proved correct and both conceived. The king and the queens were filled with great joy. When the time arrived, both gave birth simultaneously. But the queens were shocked to find both gave birth to a child which had half a body with one eye, one arm, one leg, half a stomach and half a face. The helpless sisters then anxiously consulted each other, and sorrowfully abandoned the two living parts of a child’s body, thinking it to be of a very bad omen. The two midwives carried the two parts away and threw them in the forest nearby.
But fate had something else in store. Soon, a Rakshasi (she demon) named Jara who lived by scrounging for food in that forest came upon the two living body parts draped in royal clothes. She picked them up and by sheer curiosity tried to join them. Most surprisingly they joined to form the body of a healthy male baby. To the wonder of Jara, the baby was very heavy, and his body was tough. The infant started crying with the sound of roaring clouds. Such was the intensity of the sound that the guards of the palace came running to locate the source of the sound. Seeing them, Jara immediately changed her form into that of a beautiful woman. The guards took her to the King who was lamenting the cruel fate that befell him.
Jara said – “O king, this is your son. He was born in parts to your wives. I have joined him and protected him. You may now take him as your own.”
The king was very happy to hear this. Both the queens came running and picked the child competing to feed him with mother’s milk. Jara then departed after telling the king that she was a Rakshasi who was her subject and roamed the forest. It was only fate that brought her to save the baby and return him to the palace.
Afterwards King Vrihadrath ordered a festival to be held in honour of the Rakshasi and also named the child as Jarasandha ( united by Jara). The child began to grow up in bulk and strength which increased day by day. A few days afterwards the old sage Chanda Kaushik again visited his kingdom. The king now took his son along to seek blessings from him. The Muni predicted that Jarasandha will grow up to be the mightiest king who will destroy everybody who came in his way. All the kings of the earth will live in obedience to his commands. Fulfilling all his predictions and expectations of his father, Jarasandha grew up to become a strong and powerful person who neither feared nor could be defeated by anyone. But he proved to be a tyrant of very cruel nature.
(Coming up next - the menace of Jarasandha)
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Wonderful!!
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