Mahabharata 7.11.12 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 11, Shloka 12
Droṇa’s Conditional Boon: The Plan to Capture Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रोणेन युधिष्ठिरग्रहणोपायः)
जरासंध॑ महाबाहुमुपायेन जनार्दन: । परेण घातयामास समग्राक्षीहिणीपतिम्,जनार्दन श्रीकृष्णने समस्त अक्षौहिणी सेनाओंके अधिपति महाबाहु जरासंधको उपायपूर्वक दूसरे योद्धा (भीमसेन)-के द्वारा मरवा दिया
Jarāsandhaṁ mahābāhum upāyena Janārdanaḥ | pareṇa ghātayāmāsa samagrākṣauhiṇīpatim ||
Vaiśampāyana disse: Janārdana (Kṛṣṇa), valendo-se de um meio estratégico e não da força direta, fez com que Jarāsandha, de braços poderosos—senhor de uma akṣauhiṇī completa—fosse morto por outro guerreiro (Bhīmasena).
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights upāya (strategic means) as a powerful instrument in dharmic conflict: Kṛṣṇa achieves a necessary political-moral outcome not by direct combat but by guiding events through an appropriate agent. It invites reflection on the ethics of indirect action—how intention, context, and the nature of the adversary shape what is considered permissible.
Vaiśampāyana reports that Kṛṣṇa (Janārdana) arranged for Jarāsandha, a mighty ruler commanding a full akṣauhiṇī, to be killed through another warrior—understood here as Bhīma—rather than by Kṛṣṇa himself, emphasizing deliberate strategy in eliminating a powerful enemy.
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