HV 82.5
जरासंधस्य राज्ञस् तु रामेणासीत् समागमः । महेन्द्रस्येव वृत्रेण दारुणो लोमहर्षणः ॥
jarāsaṃdhasya rājñas tu rāmeṇāsīt samāgamaḥ | mahendrasyeva vṛtreṇa dāruṇo loma-harṣaṇaḥ
The meeting of King Jarāsandha with Rāma was like that of Mahendra with Vṛtra — terrible, hair-bristling.
The Living Words
*Samāgamaḥ*, 'meeting, encounter'. *Mahendrasyeva vṛtreṇa*, 'as of Mahendra with Vṛtra'. *Dāruṇaḥ loma-harṣaṇaḥ*, 'terrible, hair-bristling'.
The Heart of It
The verse frames the duel in Vedic terms. *Mahendrasyeva vṛtreṇa* — the comparison to the Indra-Vṛtra combat is the Sanskrit cosmos's most famous. The Varkari tradition's close attention to the epic's use of this figure: Balarāma is not compared to a Mahābhārata warrior but to the Vedic Indra; Jarāsandha becomes the Vedic Vṛtra. The quarrel is moved into the oldest category. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh too often uses Indra-Vṛtra imagery for the battle of bhakti against the inner asuric coil; HV 82.5 is part of that lineage.