Canto 4 - Rajsuya Yajna

1. There after riding on a chariot, Shri Krishna soon reached the city of the pandavas, enjoying the scenic beauty of the lush green forests on his way.

2. Shri Krishna stayed there for several days, savouring the grandeur and glamour of the feasts arranged by the pandavas in his honour.

3. On the first day of the next week, he suddenly appeared in the fabulous court of Yudhishthira like a shining moon in star-studded sky.

4. Overwhelmed with excessive joy, Yudhishthira addressed Shri Krishna in utter humility,

5. "O Lord of the world! With folded hands I bow down to you who are responsible for the creation, existence and movement of this universe-kindly accept my obeisance.

6. Anytime and any where, remembering your holy and renowned name always brings about joy and bliss in all circumstances and guarantees fulfillment of all wishes.

7. "Oh Lord of Lords, the omnipresent one you are present in the heart of every living being. As such Lord Shri Krishna, you fully know my feelings and emotions. There is no doubt about it.

8. "Being Omnipresent, what I narrate shall be just a repetition for you but since it is beneficial for the entire creation, I lay it down again.

9. "O, my dearest friend Krishna! My resolution which blossomed like a lotus is offered to your holy feet.

10. "Just drench it with the water of your grace. I am sure that, You being a master of your devotees, will surely accept my first humble prayer.

11. O Achyut! Nothing offered to you, goes waste, as such advise me by your noble advice. Kindly confirm your consent and oblige me.

12. "You are the almighty Lord Shiv whose favour was won by Aparna, popularly known as Parvati through severe penance. (Shiv is always meditating)

13. "O, the Absolute Lord of this universe who is recognised by Brahma as his master, hardly needs any elaboration of this glory. I, being a sheer indigent can't describe anymore on the subject.

14. "As a matter of fact, any person who prays to you with a pure and sacred heart, gain all power and enjoys everything available only to who surrender themselves to.

15. "With your kindness, such your devotee, free from any problem or trouble, gets all opulence and acts, which are difficult to obtain even for Indra.

16. "I, therefore, dear Achyuta! Lord of Yajna, like to perform with your permission and grace the Rajsuya Yajna to please you.

17. "O Lord! For the welfare of the world, I want to worship you along with my brothers. Getting your divine help I shall perform the great Yajna-the Rajsuya Yajna."

18. In this way Yudhishthira, the son of Dharma saluted Shri Krishna and allowed his tongue to take rest. As we know noble persons are always unassuming and polite.

19. Shri Krishna, gentle and loving, talked in detail with Yudhishthira the eldest son of Pandvas the first son of Prutha.

20. "O friend, your name Dharmputra-is more than sufficient, to indicate your religious nature. Fortunately you are inspired to perform this great Rajsuya Yajna for the welfare of the whole world.

21. "However, if in your heart a great urge to perform Rajsuya Yajna the holiest of the holy 'Puja' has arisen, I am certainly very happy and wish you all success. Therefore, oh! the protector of the people, I strongly approve your action.

22. "Oh Yudhishthira, whose armour is religion, who will be that man, who won't support for such a noble act. But most certainly to achieve success in such a project, one needs a proper and thoughtful planning.

23. "O! Yudhishthira, my beloved friend the first thing you have to do is to conquer all those kings who are present here.

24. "Right now the kings who are present in your court are not vain. They are humble and pay homage to you as their superior.

25. "But the son of Brihadrath who is born of the grace of the sage is haughty and sunk with power. He has turned blind due to the royal power of the kingdom of Magadha.

26. "Jarasandha, the vain, haughty knowing no fear, with uncontrollable behaviour is an expert in dual combat. He does not accept your superiority even for a minute.

27. "Therefore, your first duty is to conquer and tame that royal tiger who has a large and mighty army and makes even the most powerful king uneasy and restless.

28. "O Yudhishthira! It is because of the demoniac acts of Jarasandha, that both Balram and I left Mathura and migrated to Dvarika for the safety and protection of the Brahmins.

29. "It is the same Jarasandha, who conquered innumerable invincible kings and warriors and threw them behind the bars.

30. "Blind with this success he took an unexpected horrible decision to perform a Narmedha Yajna, which is performed with human sacrifice and simply for that reason arrested thousand of kings and put them in prison.

31. "O Rajan, that inhuman and cruel person wants to sacrifice thousands of imprisoned kings

32. "By chopping off their heads with bright and shining swords and offering them to fire to perform the Narmedh Yajna.

33. "The unpardonable king Jarasandha, wants to perform such evil motived Yajna, to worship Lord Shiv and wish to satisfy Lord Shiv, the bitter enemy of Andhkasur.

34. "Andhkasur was such a great terror when he was alive that due to the fear and terror many other kings who were weak and helpless, fled in all directions leaving their own states and kingdoms behind.

35. "Even the Brahmins who in the heart of their hearts totally disapproved of such a heinous act as Narmedha Yajna observed silence due to fear.

36. "The same Jarasandha, shamelessly and very rudely uttered abusive words to his own divine son in the forum of public parliament for showing his dissatisfaction towards the Narmedha.

37. "Due to the flattery of the kings like Shishupal, Shalva, Paundrik, Dantvakra who always sang about his false glory, never tell him a single bitter word so he is totally mad, on hearing such false and flattered words from them.

38. "Jarasandha, the son of Jara could not foresee the future events leading to his death. Rolling in vanity and pride and sunk in the deep mire of animal like behaviour

39. "The wicked wretch Jarasandha, who gave refuge even to those respectable kings who had a desire to live.

40. "He gave refuge even to those Brahmins who surrendered themselves to him because of the false regard and respect he showed to them.

41. "He is such a wicked and cunning king who shows false respect to the Brahmins.

42. "He has simply engaged his intellect in sinful and evil acts and occupied the grand throne of the Kingdom of Magadha.

43. "Such a king overjoyed due to the vain glory of his might-is a great challenge to you and if not invincible, is certainly too difficult to be conquered."

44. In this way the omnipresent Shri Krishna put his point of view plainly to King Yudhishthira. As you know the great and the wise talk less.

45. Thus after hearing the act of might and bravery of Jarasandha-wrapped in worry and anxiety, Yudhishthira was lost in silence.

46. Shri Krishna who dispelled the darkness and rained joy again addressed the King once again.

47. "O my dear friend Yudhishthira, don't take what I have said to your heart. There is not much to worry and get restless. I have only tried to present the true picture of the situation as it is.

48. "What I want to hint is that the great tyrant Jarasandha, who can't be overpowered physically but should be tackled tactfully. Physical strength only will not help you.

49. Therefore, you just concentrate on the performance of the holy Yajan and reap its fruits. Great men don't lose patience in such moments.

50. Thus, King Yudhishthira, Shri Krishna's intimate friend, smiled to hear the pleasant and encouraging words from him and spoke sweetly to Shri Krishna.

51. "O Lord! Your suggestion that I should have conquered all the rulers and kings with the help of my might is the soundest of advices.

52. "Actually when you the Lord of this universe is taking care of everything, what is there for me to worry for! Actually you are my 'Atma' too.

53. "The almighty and all powerful one your strength is my strength. As such what is self achieved needs no action from my side. You are there to look after everything.

54. "O Lord! You motivate people to perform good or evil. Whatever is there anything that is there in their interest, or is harmful to the residents of this world is under your control. O Shri Krishna, it is your glory and its effect that makes the worldly people to perform good or evil acts.

55. "The Vedas are your nature. It negates or contributes man's Karmas that is why you could be felt and realised in all forms of religion. In other words'Vidhi' and 'Nishedha' is the very nature of the Vedas. Any act which is the result of Dharmashastra of the Vedas is known as Vidhi. That is why try to learn and follow that branch of the Veda to which you belong.^[1]

56. "All the same your behaviour is appropriate looking to the occasion. But do you think that this dual approach is applicable to me?

57. "Therefore O Lord, though you want me to perform the Rajsu Yajna, I consider this time is inappropriate for such an act." With these words, Yudhishthira bowed to Krishna humbly and kept quiet.^[2]

58. Noticing that Yudhishthira was disturbed at the advice of Shri Krishna, Shri Krishna just smiled and said,

59. "Dear friend, don't remain in suspense about the performance or the non-performance of the Yajna. The Yajna has to be performed anyhow I shall look after it. "^[3]

60. Thus when Lord Shri Krishna finished his sound advice Bhima and Arjun smiled a little and spoke to their elder brother,

61. "O brother, you know that our friend Shri Krishna gives us the advice which is best for us. It bestows upon us all that is true, auspicious, lovable and succeeding.

62. "As such do what he tells you since he is God of gods and adviser to Brahma as well.

63. "At all place where Lord Shri Krishna is present no action remains incomplete if it is proper and worth doing.

64. "O our elder brother, just wake up! Don't unnecessarily get worried. It is for the tyrants like Jarasandha to worry, because they are sure to be killed. Regarding us the Lord himself is taking care of us. Rather convey to the Lord what your opponents are thinking about you.

65. "You want to earn glory by performing the holy Yajna, while Jarasandha wants to be famous by performing the Yajna of human sacrifice.

66. "Certainly the villainous make use of evil means to conquer where as victory is on the side of the noble and good.

67. "Therefore, O Yudhishthira! Our eldest brother, just drive away the time wasting worry and perform the holy Rajsuya Yajna as suggested by Lord Shri Krishna with double strength and energy."

68. Listening to the advice and assurance of his younger brothers and bearing patience on the advice of Lord Shri Krishna, Yudhishthira finally decided to perform the Rajsuya Yajna.

69. Accordingly, for the success of the great Rajsuya Yajna all the Kauravas-Duryodhan and other cousins of Yudhishthira-attended it with great enthusiasm.

70. Thus Lord Shri Krishna the master of the universe removed all the doubts of Yudhishthira regarding the performance of Rajsuya Yajna.

71. Then the Lord Shri Krishna talked to Bhima and Arjun, assured them of their success and got ready to leave for Dvarika with a light heart.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Nishedha is the act which is not approved by the holy Granthas and forbid us to perform-just as-don't kill any living being.

[2]:

This is what Shri Krishna said in the Gita to Arjun. Exactly this thought is conveyed by Yudhishthira too. In the Gita Arjun uttered these words to Lord Shri Krishna in the context of war and Yudhishthira repeats these words with reference to Jarashandha's murder.

[3]:

Actually the performance of Vedic Yajna is a part of Dharma. Once if just for a moment it strikes your mind that you have to perform it and you resolve it. Thus Lord Shri Krishna advises Yudhishthira to perform the Yajna. Actually the performance of Vedic Yajna is a part of Dharma. Once if just for a moment it strikes your mind that you have to perform it and you resolve it. Thus Lord Shri Krishna advises Yudhishthira to perform the Yajna.