Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.71.3
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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dik
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directions
The Rājasūya requires dig-vijaya — conquest in all directions. In devotional terms, the soul too must conquer the six 'directions' of the senses before offering its own rājasūya of self at the Lord's feet.
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jarā - suta
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son of Jarā (Jarāsandha)
Born in two halves and joined by the demoness Jarā, his very name signals an unnatural patchwork life held together by demonic glue. Kṛṣṇa's plan splits him back along the seam.
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ubhaya - arthaḥ
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serving both purposes
Uddhava sees the dual fruit — sacrifice and rescue — in one act. Gauḍīyas note this as a signature of Kṛṣṇa's līlā: one move resolves many threads at once, because all threads originate in Him.
Śrī Uddhava here explains that only one who has conquered all directions is entitled to perform the Rājasūya sacrifice. Therefore Lord Kṛṣṇa should immediately accept the invitation to participate in the sacrifice, but then He should arrange to kill Jarāsandha as a necessary prerequisite. In this way the kings’ request for protection would be fulfilled automatically. If the Lord would thus adhere to a single policy — namely, seeing that the Rājasūya sacrifice was performed properly — all purposes would be fulfilled. According to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, one of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s qualities is catura, “clever,” which means that He can perform various types of work at the same time. Thus the Lord could certainly have solved the dilemma of how to simultaneously satisfy King Yudhiṣṭhira’s desire to perform the Rājasūya sacrifice and the imprisoned kings’ desire for freedom. But Kṛṣṇa wanted to give His dear devotee Uddhava the credit for the solution, and thus He pretended to be perplexed.
The best plan is if both acts are accomplished by one act. That is expressed in this verse. Both purposes, completion of the raja suya sacrifice and protecting the kings are accomplished by defeating Jarasandha. Unless one conquers all directions one cannot perform the raja suya sacrifice. Without killing Jarasandha one cannot be the conquerer of all direction. First you should accept the invitation to the rajasuya sacrifice. Accepting the request for protection of the kings however, will assist in achieving success of the sacrifice. One action will accomplish both ends.
“But you should first go to save the kings since they have first petitioned you and are about to die. The sacrifice can be done later.” One who has conquered everywhere can perform the ṛājasūya sacrifice. Thus defeating Jarāsandha with the desire to perform the sacrifice will serve both purposes. “It will be difficult to conquer him.” It will be easy since you have power (vibho). The name Jarā-suta indicates that he remembered how Jarāsandha was joined together by Jarā, and could be killed by pulling him apart. Therefore for the sacrifice, first go and kill Jarāsandha.
- What single decisive action in my life would resolve several lingering issues?
- Where have I been doing small fixes when one large step is needed?
Conquering Jarāsandha to make the Rājasūya possible is like clearing one stone that dams a river — once the obstruction breaks, both the sacrifice upstream and the captive kings downstream flow free at the same moment.
My note
Source: vedabase.io