130 Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

and yet Bali did not hesitate to give in charity whatever the brahmana
wanted, and at last he gave up everything to that brahmana. “It is my
strong determination,” thought Jarasandha, “that if I can achieve immortal
reputation by sacrificing this perishable body, I must act for that purpose;
the life of a ksatriya who does not live for the benefit of the brahmana is
certainly condemned.”

Actually King Jarasandha was very liberal in giving charity to the brah-
manas, and thus he informed Lord Krsna, Bhima and Arjuna: “My dear
brahmanas, you can ask'from me whatever you like. If you so desire, you
can take my head also. I am prepared to give it.”

After this, Lord Krsna addressed Jarasandha as follows: ““My dear King,
please note that we are not actually brahmanas, nor have we come to ask
for foodstuffs or grains. We are all ksatriyas, and we have come to beg a
duel with you. We hope that you will agree to this proposal. You may note
that here is the second son of King Pandu, Bhimasena, and the third son
of Pandu, Arjuna. As for Myself, you may know that I am your old enemy,
Krsna, the cousin of the Pandavas.”

When Lord Krsna disclosed their disguise, King Jarasandha began to
laugh very loudly, and then in great anger and in a grave voice he exclaimed,
“You fools! If you want to fight with me, I immediately grant your re-
quest. But, Krsna, I know that You are a coward. I refuse to fight with
You because You become very confused when You face me in fighting.
Out of fear of me You left Your own city, Mathura, and now You have
taken shelter within the sea; therefore I must refuse to fight with You.
As far as Arjuna is concerned, I know that he is younger than me and is
not an equal fighter. I refuse to fight with him because he is not in any
way an equal competitor. But as far as Bhimasena is concerned, I think he
is a suitable competitor to fight with me.” After speaking in this way,
King Jarasandha immediately handed a very heavy club to Bhimasena,
and he himself took another, and thus all of them went outside the city
walls to fight.

Bhimasena and King Jaradsandha engaged themselves in fighting, and
with their respective clubs, which were as strong as thunderbolts, they
began to strike one another very severely, both of them being eager to
fight. They were both expert fighters with clubs, and their techniques of
striking one another were so beautiful that they appeared to be two
dramatic artists dancing on a stage. When the clubs of Jarasandha and
Bhimasena loudly collided, they sounded like the impact of the big tusks
of two fighting elephants or like a thunderbolt in a flashing electrical
storm. When two elephants fight together in a sugarcane field, each of them
