The Stick He Split in Half

Three unarmed men walked in through the main gate of Magadha, in daylight, dressed as brahmins.

And they asked the most feared king of the age for a fight.

The problem

Jarasandha was the obstacle standing between Yudhishthira and the Rajasuya.

That is the great royal sacrifice. A king performs it only when no rival can plausibly refuse his rule. While Jarasandha lived, the rite was a sham.

He was also holding kings in a pen. He had taken them in his wars and was keeping them alive for a reason: at a hundred, he would offer them all to Rudra. He had eighty-six. He needed fourteen more.

And he had beaten Krishna's own people so often that Mathura had been given up.

The whole people moved west, to build Dwaraka on the sea, rather than keep taking his attacks.