SECTION 18
"Krishna continued,--'hearing these
words of the king, the Rakshasa woman answered--Blessed be thou. Capable of assuming
any form at will. I am a Rakshasa woman called Jara. I am living, O king,
happily in thy house, worshipped by all. Every day I wander from house to house
of men. Indeed, I was created of old by the Self-create and was named Grihadevi
(the household goddess)'. Of celestial beauty I was placed in the world for the
destruction of the Danavas. He that with devotion painteth on the walls of his
house a likeness of myself endued with youth and in the midst of children, must
have prosperity in his abode; otherwise a household must sustain decay and
destruction. O lord, painted on the walls of thy house is a likeness of myself
surrounded by numerous children. Stationed there I am daily worshipped with
scents and flowers, with incense and edibles and various objects of enjoyment.
Thus worshipped in thy house, I daily think of doing thee some good in return. It
chanced that I beheld the fragmentary bodies of thy son. When these happened to
be united by me, a living child was formed of them. It hath been so owing to
thy good fortune alone. I have been only the instrument, I am capable of
swallowing the mountain of Meru itself, what shall I say of the child? I have,
however, been gratified with thee in consequence of the worship I receive in
thy house. It is, therefore, O king, that I have bestowed this child on thee.
"Krishna continued,--Having spoken these
words, Jara disappeared there and then. The king having obtained the child then
entered the palace. And the king then caused all the rites of infancy to be performed
on that child, and ordered a festival to be observed by his people in Honour of
that Rakshasa woman. And the monarch equal unto Brahma himself then bestowed a
name on his child. And he said that because the child had been united by Jara,
he should be called Jarasandha i.e., united by Jara. And the son of the king of
Magadha endued with great energy began to grow up in bulk and strength. And
increasing day by day like the moon in the bright fortnight, the child began to
enhance the joy of his parents.'"
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