81) “The vipras are declaring this Bhima to be naturally dear to Lord Vishnu. That surely is turning out to be true. Otherwise such natural strength would never be present (in him). Therefore, we must destroy him along with Hari. That is our aim”.
82) “That Hari has taken birth as Krishna amongst the Yadavas and He is the refuge for this Bhima. Therefore, oppose Him in all possible ways” – having discussed thus, the most evil princes started causing opposition to Lord Krishna as well.
83) Having been inspired by Duryodhana and his brothers, those princes, along with their fathers, got together with Jarasandha and went to war 18 times with Lord Krishna. They came back with their strength, pride and ego having been smashed by Lord Krishna.
84) All of them lost their chariots, horses and elephants due to Lord Krishna. Their bodies got damaged greatly due to the weapons of Lord Krishna. All of them returned spouting blood. They had lost their weapons, armour, flags, horses and charioteers. Their dresses had slipped. Their hair was dishevelled.
85) In this way, Jarasandha used to return to his city every time after getting stuck in a pitiable and sad condition. Lord Krishna, the One with complete strength and valour, used to defeat him completely and let him off, saying “go – live”, after leaving only his breath with him.
86) In this way, after all the Kings were made to return with their heads bowing many times, the victorious Lord Krishna, the Lord of Lakshmi, the One whose strength can never be comprehended, returned to His city of Madhura and, along with Balarama and the other Yadavas, enjoyed His time there.
87) In this way, the mindless princes who were bent on making fruitless attempts, got together with Duryodhana and repeatedly tried to kill Bhima. The powerful Bhima rendered all those attempts futile and focused on winning the various directions (i.e. Kingdoms on all sides).
88) First, he won over the eastern direction. After that he was victorious in the western, southern and the remaining northern directions. He then won against Shishupala and Dantavakra, who were his Aunt’s sons and Ravana and Kumbhakarna in their previous lives.
89) Amongst them, the son of Damaghosha was born first. The kings used to call him Shishupala. Another of his aunt’s son was the son of King Karoosha and he was known as Dantavakra.
90) After winning over the two of them, Bhima won his battle against Paundraka, the son of Vasudeva. After that he won the battle against Rugmi, who was born as the son of Bheeshmaka. Rugmi was a daitya by name Ilvala in his previous birth. He was now the Lord of Kundini desha.
91) Rugmi had an amsha of Shuchi, an agni-putra. His father Bheeshmaka was the amsha of Mitra, an Aditya. He also had the amsha of Rahu. His brothers Kratha and Kaishika had the amshas of Pavamana and Shundhi, the sons of Agni.
92) In order to test the strength of his relative, King Shalya fought with Bhima and lost to him. After that, Bhima won the battle with the brave Ekalavya. In the same way, many other Kings were defeated by him.
93) Arjuna, who was safe due to the strength of Bhima’s shoulders, then won over the remaining Kings with ease. Bhima then defeated Salva and Hamsa-Dibika and returned to Hastinapura along with Arjuna.
94) Having seen the strength of the two, Dharmaraja, along with Nakula, Sahadeva, Bhishma and Vidura felt very pleased. In the same way other noble people, the residents of the city and the country also felt joyed. Hearing this news, all the Yadavas also felt extremely happy.
95) Lord Krishna, the Parameshwara, knowing that Dhritharasthtra was being attacked by Duryodhana and his other sons and was under their control, wanted to stop his bad activities. He therefore went to Akrura’s house and ordered him to go to Hastinapura.
96) Akrura went to Hastinapura and was well received and felicitated by Dhritharashtra, along with Bhishma and all the Kauravas. In order to understand the mindset of the Kaurvas with regard to the Pandavas, Akrura spent a few months there.
97) From the words of Kunti and Vidura and his own experience there, he understood who were the friends, enemies and neutral ones with regard to the Pandavas. He also understood Dhritharashtra was seized by his sons. Being a wise man, he used a mix of bheda and saama to advise him well.
98) “O Excellent King! If you treat your own sons and Pandavas equally, you will obtain fame, excellent dharma and also wealth and all desires. (If you do so) Lord Krishna along with all the Yadavas and indeed all the Devatas will shower special affection on you”
99) “With the pleasure of Lord Krishna, you will obtain Dharma, Artha, Kama and special Mukti certainly. On the other hand, if you do the opposite, you will certainly accrue the opposite results. Whatever I have told you is Lord Krishna’s words!”
100) Having been told these words in the midst of all Kauravas, Dhritharashtra, who was completely under the control of his sons said thus – “Everything is subject to the control of the Lord. We are not independent. Hasn’t he taken birth specifically for reducing the burden of (mother) Earth?”
Anandatirtha Prathishtana 