Part 29: Jarasāndha’s hostility

At that time Vṛṣṇi’s son was kidnaped by Triśikhara’s wife, Sūrpaṇakhī, in Madanavegā’s form, after she had burned his house. Wishing to kill him, she dropped him from the air near Rājagṛha and the scion of the Yadus fell on a pile of straw.

Learning that the city was Rājagṛha from the fact that Jarāsandha was being hymned,^[1] Śauri went (there), won a crore of gold at dice and gave it to beggars. Then Śauri was taken to the palace by guards who had arrested him. He asked the soldiers, “Why am I arrested when l have committed no crime?” They replied: “Jarāsandha was told by an astrologer, ‘Whoever wins a crore of gold and gives it to beggars at dawn, his son will be your slayer.’ You are he. At the king’s command you, though innocent, are to be killed.” With these words, they threw Vasudeva in a bag. From fear of censure they wished to kill Vārṣṇeya secretly and they threw him from a mountain.