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THE MAGADHAS
mountains on all sides'. One of the ancient names of Rajagṛha was Barhadrathapura, after Jarasandha. According to the Visnupurana, Jarasandha gave his two daughters in marriage to Kamsa, king of Mathura, and when Kamsa was killed by Kṛṣṇa, Jarasandha marched with his army to Mathura to destroy Krsna with all the Yadavas, only to be repulsed with heavy loss. From other sources, however, we learn that Jarasandha besieged Mathura with his large army of 23 akṣauhinis, defeated many of the kings of N. India, and kept them imprisoned in Girivraja, it is said in a temple of Siva, in order to sacrifice them to the god. According to the Santiparvan of the Mahabharata, Jarasandha, hearing of the valour of Karna, fought with him, but was defeated, and being pleased with his great skill in arms, made him king of the city of Malini. In the Adiparvan, Jarasandha is represented as a reincarnation of Vipracitti, a chief of the demons.5 Jarasandha exercised such great power that without defeating him it was not possible for Yudhisthira to assume the status of a paramount sovereign and perform the Rājasuya sacrifice. The Bhagavatapurana narrates that Bhima, Arjuna, and Krsna went to Girivraja where Bhima killed Jarasandha, and Kṛṣṇa made Sahadeva (Jarasandha's son) king of Magadha, and released all the kings imprisoned by Jarasandha. The Sabhaparvan relates that Bhima proceeded again to Girivraja where he forced Sahadeva to pay taxes to him; and at the Rajasuya sacrifice, Sahadeva was present as one of the vassals of the Pandavas. In the Kurukṣetra battle, Dhṛṣṭaketu, son of Jarasandha, helped the Pandavas with a fourfold army. After the battle of Kurukṣetra, when the horse let loose at the Aśvamedha sacrifice of Yudhisthira was proceeding towards Hastinapura, Meghasandhi, son of Sahadeva of Magadha, offered battle to Arjuna, but was defeated by him."
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After Ripuñjaya, the last king of Jarasandha's line, came the Pradyotas, of whom there is not much to relate; and then followed the Siśunagas. The Siśunaga dynasty was established before 600 B.C. (perhaps in 642 B.C.) by a chieftain of Benares named Siśunaga who fixed his capital at Girivraja or Rajagṛha. Bimbisāra, said to
1 Sabhāparvan, Chap. 21.
2 Visnupurana, Amsa 5, Chap. 22. The Khila-Harivamsa (Visnuparvan, Chap. 35, śls. 92ff. and Chap. 36, $1. 40) informs us that Jarasandha, king of Magadha, killed the horses yoked to the chariot of Balarama, but was ultimately defeated by the Vṛsnis.
8 Mahabharata, II, 14-5; Brahmapurana, Chap. 195, 1. 3. 4 Santiparvan, Chap. 5.
5 Adiparvan, Chap. 67, v. 4.
6 Bhagavatapurana, Skandha 10, Chap. 72, śls. 16, 46.
7 Sabhaparvan, Chap. 30, v. 18.
8 Udyogaparvan, Chap. 57, v. 8.
9 Asvamedhaparvan, Chap. 82.
