128 Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

ordered Nakula, accompanied by the soldiers of Matsyadega, to conquer
the kings of the western side. He sent Arjuna, accompanied by the soldiers
of Kekayadeéga, to conquer the kings of the northern side, and Bhimasena,
accompanied by the soldiers of Madradega (Madras), was ordered to con-
quer the kings on the eastern side.

It may be noted that by dispatching his younger brothers to conquer in
different directions, King Yudhisthira did not actually intend that they
declare war with the kings. Actually, the brothers started for different
directions to inform the respective kings about King Yudhisthira’s inten-
tion to perform the Rajastya sacrifice. The kings were thus informed that
they were required to pay taxes for the execution of the sacrifice. This
payment of taxes to Emperor Yudhisthira meant that the king accepted
his subjugation before him. In case of a king’s refusal to act accordingly,
there was certainly a fight. Thus by their influence and strength, the
brothers conquered all the kings in different directions, and they were
able to bring in sufficient taxes and presentations. These were brought
before King Yudhisthira by his brothers.

King Yudhisthira was very anxious, however, when he heard that King
Jarasandha of Magadha did not accept his sovereignty. Seeing King
Yudhisthira’s anxiety, Lord Krsna informed him of the plan explained by
Uddhava for conquering King Jarasandha. Bhimasena, Arjuna and Lord
Krsna then started together for Girivraja, the capital city of Jarasandha,
dressing themselves in the garb of brahmanas. This was the plan devised
by Uddhava before Lord Krsna started for Hastinapura, and now it was
given practical application.

King Jarasandha was a very dutiful householder, and he had great
respect for the brahmanas. He was a great fighter, a ksatriya king, but he
was never neglectful of the Vedic injunctions. According to Vedic in-
junctions, the brahmanas are considered to be the spiritual masters of all
other castes. Lord Krsna, Arjuna and Bhimasena were actually ksatriyas,
but they dressed themselves as brahmanas, and at the time when King
Jarasandha was to give charity to the brahmanas and receive them as
guests, they approached him.

Lord Krsna, in the dress of a brahmana, said to the King: “We wish all
glories to your majesty. We are three guests at your royal palace, and we
are coming from a great distance. We have come to ask you for charity, and
we hope that you will kindly bestow upon us whatever we ask from you.
We know about your good qualities. A person who is tolerant is always pre-
pared to tolerate everything, even though distressful. Just as a criminal can
perform the most abominable acts, so a greatly charitable person like you
