Krsna, Bhima and Arjuna together went to Jarasandha in the dress of poor brahmanas and begged charity from him

Expressions researched:
"Krsna and Arjuna and Bhima went to Jarasandha. He was very charitable to the brahmanas, and these three persons went there, dressing themselves as poor brahmanas" |"Krsna, Bhima and Arjuna together went to Jarasandha in the dress of poor brahmanas and begged charity from King Jarasandha" |"Krsna, who had planned to fight with Jarasandha, went to him with Bhima and Arjuna in the dress of brahmanas" |"therefore Krsna, Arjuna, and Bhima went to Jarasandha, and they went in the dress of brahmana. So Jarasandha was very charitable to the brahmanas"

SB Canto 1

Kṛṣṇa, Bhīma and Arjuna together went to Jarāsandha in the dress of poor brāhmaṇas and begged charity from King Jarāsandha.

SB 1.15.9, Translation and Purport:

Your respectable younger brother, who possesses the strength of ten thousand elephants, killed, by His grace, Jarāsandha, whose feet were worshiped by many kings. These kings had been brought for sacrifice in Jarāsandha's Mahābhairava-yajña, but they were thus released. Later they paid tribute to Your Majesty.

Jarāsandha was a very powerful king of Magadha, and the history of his birth and activities is also very interesting. His father, King Bṛhadratha, was also a very prosperous and powerful king of Magadha, but he had no son, although he married two daughters of the King of Kāśī. Being disappointed in not getting a son from either of the two queens, the King, along with his wives, left home to live in the forest for austerities, but in the forest he was blessed by one great ṛṣi to have a son, and he gave him one mango to be eaten by the queens. The queens did so and were very soon pregnant. The King was very happy to see the queens bearing children, but when the ripe time approached, the queens delivered one child in two parts, one from each of the queens' wombs. The two parts were thrown in the forest, where a great she-demon used to live, and she was glad to have some delicate flesh and blood from the newly born child. Out of curiosity she joined the two parts, and the child became complete and regained life. The she-demon was known as Jarā, and being compassionate on the childless King, she went to the King and presented him with the nice child, The King was very pleased with the she-demon and wanted to reward her according to her desire. The she-demon expressed her desire that the child be named after her, and thus the child was surnamed Jarāsandha, or one who was joined by Jarā, the she-demon. In fact, this Jarāsandha was born as one of the parts and parcels of the demon Vipracitti. The saint by whose benedictions the queens bore the child was called Candra Kauśika, who foretold of the child before his father Bṛhadratha.

Since he possessed demoniac qualities from birth, naturally he became a great devotee of Lord Śiva, who is the lord of all ghostly and demoniac men. Rāvaṇa was a great devotee of Lord Śiva, and so also King Jarāsandha. He used to sacrifice all arrested kings before Lord Mahābhairava (Śiva) and by his military power he defeated many small kings and arrested them to butcher before Mahābhairava. There are many devotees of Lord Mahābhairava, or Kālabhairava, in the province of Bihar, formerly called Magadha. Jarāsandha was a relative of Kaṁsa, the maternal uncle of Kṛṣṇa, and therefore after Kaṁsa's death King Jarāsandha became a great enemy of Kṛṣṇa, and there were many fights between Jarāsandha and Kṛṣṇa. Lord Kṛṣṇa wanted to kill him, but He also wanted that those who served as military men for Jarāsandha might not be killed. Therefore a plan was adopted to kill him. Kṛṣṇa, Bhīma and Arjuna together went to Jarāsandha in the dress of poor brāhmaṇas and begged charity from King Jarāsandha. Jarāsandha never refused charity to any brāhmaṇa, and he performed many sacrifices also, yet he was not on a par with devotional service. Lord Kṛṣṇa, Bhīma and Arjuna asked Jarāsandha for the facility of fighting him, and it was settled that Jarāsandha would fight with Bhīma only. So all of them were both guests and combatants of Jarāsandha, and Bhīma and Jarāsandha fought every day for several days. Bhīma became disappointed, but Kṛṣṇa gave him hints about Jarāsandha's being joined together as an infant, and thus Bhīma dissected him again and so killed him. All the kings who were detained in the concentration camp to be killed before Mahābhairava were thus released by Bhīma. Feeling thus obliged to the Pāṇḍavas, they paid tribute to King Yudhiṣṭhira.

Nectar of Devotion

Thus Kṛṣṇa, who had planned to fight with Jarāsandha, went to him with Bhīma and Arjuna in the dress of brāhmaṇas. Jarāsandha, being very charitable toward the brāhmaṇas, asked them what they wanted, and they expressed their desire to fight with him.

Nectar of Devotion 21:

A person whose word of honor is never broken is called truthful. Kṛṣṇa once promised Kuntī, the mother of the Pāṇḍavas, that He would bring her five sons back from the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. After the battle was finished, when all the Pāṇḍavas had come home, Kuntī praised Kṛṣṇa because His promise was so nicely fulfilled. She said, "Even the sunshine may one day become cool and the moonshine one day become hot, but still Your promise will not fail." Similarly, when Kṛṣṇa, along with Bhīma and Arjuna, went to challenge Jarāsandha, He plainly told Jarāsandha that He was the eternal Kṛṣṇa, present along with two of the Pāṇḍavas. The story is that both Kṛṣṇa and the Pāṇḍavas—in this case Bhīma and Arjuna—were kṣatriyas (warrior-kings). Jarāsandha was also a kṣatriya and was very charitable toward the brāhmaṇas. Thus Kṛṣṇa, who had planned to fight with Jarāsandha, went to him with Bhīma and Arjuna in the dress of brāhmaṇas. Jarāsandha, being very charitable toward the brāhmaṇas, asked them what they wanted, and they expressed their desire to fight with him. Then Kṛṣṇa, dressed as a brāhmaṇa, declared Himself to be the same Kṛṣṇa who was the King's eternal enemy.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

So Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna and Bhīma went to Jarāsandha. He was very charitable to the brāhmaṇas, and these three persons went there, dressing themselves as poor brāhmaṇas. So in the assembly they begged from Jarāsandha, "Sir, we have come to beg from you for fight."

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- Hyderabad, December 12, 1976:

When Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna and Bhīma went to Jarāsandha... Jarāsandha was very powerful king. So before Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira's becoming the emperor, it was the system that all the other kings within this world, they must submit, either submit or fight. So Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna and Bhīma went to Jarāsandha. He was very charitable to the brāhmaṇas, and these three persons went there, dressing themselves as poor brāhmaṇas. So in the assembly they begged from Jarāsandha, "Sir, we have come to beg from you for fight." Kṛṣṇa, to save the other soldiers, He advised that "Let us fight with Jarāsandha alone. Why he should unnecessarily bring so many soldiers and we have to also? Why these poor soldiers will give life? Better go, let us individually fight." So Jarāsandha could understand that "They are kṣatriyas. They have come in the dress of a brāhmaṇa to beg," because kṣatriya cannot beg. So he accepted, "Yes." Then he selected Bhīma to fight with him. He rejected Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa also, that "You are not fit for fighting with me." So there was fighting for twenty-eight days. Fighting was going on from morning to evening. And at night they were friends. Bhīma, Arjuna, and Kṛṣṇa was the guest, and he received them as guests. They were eating together, talking together. In the morning again fighting. This is kṣatriya. It is sport, sporting, but that sporting was meant for... Until one dies, the fighting will go on.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

This time Kṛṣṇa wanted to kill only Jarāsandha, not so many innocent soldiers. So therefore Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna, and Bhīma went to Jarāsandha, and they went in the dress of brāhmaṇa. So Jarāsandha was very charitable to the brāhmaṇas.

Lecture on SB 1.2.2 -- Rome, May 26, 1974:

Just like Jarāsandha. Jarāsandha and Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna and Bhīma. There was many times fight with Jarāsandha and Kṛṣṇa. But he brought many, many unlimited number of soldiers, and they were killed. So this time Kṛṣṇa wanted to kill only Jarāsandha, not so many innocent soldiers. So therefore Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna, and Bhīma went to Jarāsandha, and they went in the dress of brāhmaṇa. So Jarāsandha was very charitable to the brāhmaṇas. So when they... As brāhmaṇas, they wanted something. "Yes, what do you want?" Then they said that "We want to fight with you." So Jarāsandha could understand, "They are in disguise. They are kṣatriyas." So Jarāsandha said, "Yes, accepted. Then who will fight with me? You are three." Then they challenged also, "Anyone. Anyone. You can accept." So Jarāsandha said that "Kṛṣṇa, He fled away." Kṛṣṇa is Ranchor. Sometimes He did that. The purpose was to save the innocent soldiers, and He would take another chance to kill Jarāsandha. But he thought that He fled away. Anyway, so he said that "Kṛṣṇa is afraid of me. I cannot fight with Him. I reject Him. And Arjuna is younger than me; so I cannot fight with who is younger, inferior, to me. But I can accept Bhīma, to fight with him."

So there was fight with Bhīma and Jarāsandha. This is kṣatriya spirit. He could not deny. They were guests, these three men, namely Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna... They were guests. So they would fight the whole day, or, say, in the morning, after taking their breakfast, they'd begin fighting. And the fighting will go on. And at night they are guests. They were received very well. They would dine together, talk together, friendly. You see? So this is kṣatriya spirit. And in this way, for twenty-seven or twenty-eight days, the fighting was going on. Later on, Jarāsandha was killed by the hint of Kṛṣṇa. This is kṣatriya spirit. Similarly, brāhmaṇa spirit. Guṇa-karma-vibhāgaśaḥ (BG 4.13).