Week 10 Story: Count Jarasandha

Desolation stretched across the land from horizon to horizon. A barren forest still remained on this dead land. In the center stood a decrepit castle surrounded by ninety-nine bodies impaled on pikes, some still alive. Who could still live in such a place? Who could do such a thing to these people? The answer was simple: Count Jarasandha.

Count Jarasandha walked about his victims with a goblet in hand. Every wriggle of pain and moan of agony filled him with euphoria. At random, he chose a victim, gave his wounds a squeeze, and let the blood drip into his goblet. He took a sip. Tonight he was especially parched, for he had recently escaped from a man named Krishna and his friends who had been hunting him. If the Count was going to face them, he also may as well do so with the home ground advantage. A racing chariot sounded in the distance. It was them: Krishna, Bhima, and Arjuna. They had found him.

The three jumped from the chariot, weapons in hand. "It is over, Jarasandha," said Krishna. "You have nowhere left to run. Your terror ends here."

Jarasandha took another casual sip from his goblet. "Is that so? Look around you, my friends." He motioned to the impaled bodies. "These are- well, were powerful kings that I reduced to nothing more than skewered meat." He flashed his fangs at the trio. "And I plan on doing the same with the three of you..." With a whoosh of his vampiric cloak, the Count whisked away their weapons.

Krishna and Arjuna were left paralyzed, but the mountainous Bhima was filled only with rage. Bhima charged at Jarasandha like a bull and gored him with his fist. This did not faze the vampire. The two were now locked in a wrestling match. Neither seemed to be able to overpower the other. Krishna and Arjuna powerlessly watched. Finally, Bhima managed to grab a hold of Jarasandha and rip him in half. The halves fell to the ground. They twitched then came back together. Jarasandha had revived as if nothing had happened. The battle continued. Bhima again and again tore the vampire in half only for him to become whole every time.

Suddenly, Krishna came up with an idea. He searched the ground and managed to find a dead leaf. "Bhima!" he called. Bhima glanced at Krishna as Krishna tore the leaf in half and reversed the way he put it back together. Bhima understood. Once again, Bhima took hold of Count Jarasandha and tore him in half. This time, however, he placed the head halves next to the feet. The halves twitched, but they did not fuse. The halves stilled. The vampire was dead. His reign of terror was over.

Nosferatu

Web Source: FIGC.mx on Flickr

Author's Note. This story is based on the story of the final confrontation between Krishna and Jarasandha. Jarasandha was a cruel leader who would place the kings he defeated into cages and starve them to death. Sometimes he would even eat incredible feasts in front of them. Needless to say, he was a sadist. One day, Jarasandha was told that he could become the ruler of the universe is he acquired one more king, to make a total of one hundred kings, and sacrificed them in the name of Shiva. He sent out a challenge to other kings for a wrestling match, which Krishna, Bhima, and Arjuna attended. In the end, he challenged and was destroyed by Bhima.

If you are like me and know the lore about Dracula, both the man and the vampire, then you may have seen the parallels I did between these two characters. Both are cruel sadists, giving their enemies a slow and painful death, kind of paranoid and delusional, and have interesting regenerative powers. Besides making Jarasandha a vampire and changing the setting of the final confrontation, I kept the details of the match between Jarasadha and Bhima the same.

Bibliography. Krishna Krishna by Indira Parthasarathy, link to Overview.