Krishna advises Yudhishthira on the obstacle to the Rajasuya
Yudhishthira is capable of performing the imperial Rajasuya sacrifice. Krishna initiates counsel with a detailed political analysis, enumerating the kings aligned with the powerful Jarasandha and recounting his own history of conflict and flight. He delivers his conclusion: the Rajasuya is impossible while Jarasandha lives.
Yudhishthira, lord of the Kurus, possessed all the qualities necessary to perform the rajasuya — the imperial sacrifice that would declare him sovereign of the earth. Krishna, knowing the king was wise, said he would tell him something nonetheless.
He began with a map of power. The kshatriya (warrior) lineages were many, but one king had inherited an empire by birth and now cast his influence everywhere: Jarasandha of Magadha. To him had flocked powerful kings — Shishupala of Chedi as his general, the mighty Vakra of Karusha who fought with maya (illusion), and warriors like Dantavakra and Bhagadatta. Even Krishna’s own relative, the powerful Bhishmaka of Bhoja, had placed himself under Jarasandha, dazzled by his fame.
The terror of Jarasandha had scattered kingdoms. Out of oppressive fear, the eighteen branches of the northern Bhojas, the Shurasenas, the Matsyas, the Panchalas, and many others had abandoned their own lands and fled in all directions.
Then Krishna told his own story. He recounted how Kamsa, strengthened by marrying Jarasandha’s daughters Asti and Prapti, had oppressed his relatives, the Bhoja elders. To save them, they had allied with Krishna. He secured support by marrying Sutanu to Akrura. Then, with his brother Samkarshana (Balarama) as his second, he killed Kamsa and his minister Sunama.
That act averted one danger and created a greater one. Jarasandha rose up in arms against the Yadavas. Krishna described the council where they realized Jarasandha’s invincibility lay in his two champions, Hamsa and Dibhaka. He told how a false rumor of Hamsa’s death led both warriors to drown themselves in the Yamuna, causing Jarasandha to retreat — but only temporarily. Kamsa’s widow, Jarasandha’s daughter, goaded her father to vengeance. Distracted at heart, the Yadavas divided their wealth and fled. They fortified a new city, Kushasthali, behind impregnable walls, where they now lived in security but in exile.
Krishna laid out the conclusion plainly. The Yadavas, with their eighteen thousand warriors and seven great champions, were strong enough to withstand Jarasandha. But they had resolved to seek Yudhishthira’s refuge. The political reality was absolute: Jarasandha’s dominance made the rajasuya impossible.
“O king,” Krishna said, delivering the necessary, brutal advice. To perform the sacrifice, Yudhishthira must first kill Jarasandha and free the eighty-six kings the Magadhan held captive. There was no other path to sovereignty.