Chapter 50(a) - Jarāsandha’s Second Expedition

[Note: Additional Chapters in Padaratnāvalī’s Text—Chapter 50 in Padaratnāvalī’s Text]

Śrī Śuka said.

1-4. The mighty king Jarāsandha, the son of Bṛhadratha, who was day and night remembering and smarting under the previous discomfiture (by Lord Kṛṣṇa), invited all the allied princes in the third month (after the defeat) and inspired them to make preparations of war—with the allied forces of the kings of Matsya (mod. Alwar and parts of former states of Jaipur and Bharatpur)^[1], Mālava, of Cedi (Bundelkhand and adjacent part of Madhya Pradesh), Kuru, Pāñcāla (Rohilkhand but formerly the country from the foothills of the Himalayas upto the Chambal), Kerala, Kulinda (Garhwal and a part of Saharanpur district), Kuntala (Southern Maharashtra), Avanti (country round Ujjain), Kāśī, Gandhāra (former districts of Peshawar and Rawalpindi and Eusofzai country—now in Pakistan), Sṛñjaya, Kaliṅga (Major part of Orissa esp. the South of it). Kekaya (country between the Bias and the Sutlej), Andhra, Daśārṇa (Eastern Malva and Bhopal District), Vang (Western Bengal), Sindhu (lower part of Sindh), Madra (country between the Ravi and the Chinab), Trigartta (Jalandhar and a part of Lahore district), Sauvīra (upper Sindh and southern Punjab) and the warriors from the mountains—all making up an army of twenty-three Akṣauhaṇīs.

5. Accompanied by this army, he crossed the country of Magadha and proceeded towards the West (to Mathura). He, as it were, was dragging with him all the kings with their divisions of the elephants, cavalry, chariots and infantry.

6. Having come to besiege Mathurā, he camped on the bank of the Yamunā, surrounded with the tents of a number of kings and camp followers.

7-8. He entertained himself listening to the eulogies sung by the bards such as Sūtas, Māgadhas and bards and rested. Hearing of the great preparations of war by the mighty king of Magadhas, Kṛṣṇa convened a conference and planned with Balarāma, Vasudeva, Uddhava, Akrūra, Śaineya, Āhuka and Sāraṇa.

9. Having properly planned the strategy at night in consultation with these, he summoned the best of his warriors at dawn before the sunrise.

10. The Lord of incomprehensible nature, divided his army consisting of the four divisions—elephants, horsemen, charioteers and foot-soldiers—in three detachments. Kṛṣṇa deployed these against the army of Jarāsandha, the king of Magadhas as follows:

11. Kṛṣṇa, the slayer of demon Madhu sent Balarāma, Hārdikya, Gada and Sāraṇa by the left side.

12. He sent by the right side Sātyaki, Vipṛthu, Pṛthu and Uddhava along with the army.

13. The Lotus-eyed Lord accompanied by some charioteers, himself entered the vast army of the king of Magadha directly from the front.

14. The army (of Jarāsandha) mixed up of numerous elephants, horses, chariots and foot-soldiers at random was unsuspectingly asleep on the bank of the Yamunā and was enjoying itself happily.

15. 16. While the sun was rising on the eastern mountain and the darkness (of night) was being dispelled, and birds were warbling in their nests everywhere, and lotuses were blooming and swarms of bees were sweetly humming, Kṛṣṇa entered the terrible, invincible army of the king of Magadhas.

17. At that time, the horses (of the enemies) were unsaddled and tethered in a line here and there; and at that time the elephants had no armour on their backs, O King!

18. The soldiers had not taken up their arms and even their hair were not tied. They had not put on their usual coats of mail, and were not riding their horses or vehicles.

19. The chariots were not yoked with horses and the flags were not raised (showing their unpreparedness). At this time, Kṛṣṇa wearing a yellow garment made his way into the army of the Magadhan king.

20. Seeing an army attacking them on three sides, all the kings became confused and were not able to know what to do.

21. Some warriors rallied together, while others fled away out of fear. Some soldiers lookup their arms and counterattacked the enemies (Yādavas) in the battle.

22. Some soldiers had their armours shattered while others had their legs, thighs and arms cut off. Some with their eyes grown red with anger attacked the enemies (the Yādavas).

23. Some soldiers of great valour rode the unsaddled horses and crushing the enemies in the battle, earned a bright, unblemished glory for themselves.

24. Kings suddenly roused from their sleep found the destruction of their army. Some of them put up a fight even without weapons essential for fighting.

25. Some deserted their camps and entered into deep forest. Some approached Jarāsandha, King of Magadhas and hailed, “Be successful in the battle.”

26. Govinda entering the inimical forces single-handed in his chariot, killed a number of warriors who put up a fight with their weapons.

27. The mighty Balarāma also surrounded by a big detachment entered the Magadha army by the left side and routed the Magadhan forces.

28. The mighty armed Śaineya also attacked with his big army consisting of elephants, cavalry, chariots and infantry, by the right side and gave the enemy sound drubbing.

29. In this way, the army under the leadership and protection of the king of Magadhas was beaten on all sides, and being terrified, took to their heels in all the directions in a moment.

30. Sātyaki of the Vṛṣṇi clan pursued the army upto five yojanas and destroying the Magadhan force, he returned from the battle a victor.

31. Kṛṣṇa forcibly caught a number of elephants big like hills along with their accoutrement, tomaras, goads, etc. He collected as spoil chariots along with the weapons, flags and horses yoked to them and carried them to Mathura.

32. In that battle, Kṛṣṇa got as spoils innumerable umbrellas inlaid with gold jewels, numberless chowries, crowns, belts, gold armlets, earings and valuable clothes.

33. As per instructions of Kṛṣṇa, the slayer of Kaṃsa, Balarāma, the wielder of the plough as a weapon, brought a vast amount of spoil such as Jarāsandha’s treasury, the vehicles, subjects, women of Jarasandha’s harem, weapons and ornaments. He presented the wealth collected in the battle to Ugrasena, the king of Yadus.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The identifications of the territories with their modern counterparts is as per N.L. De’s GDAMI.