The forgotten warrior: with 3 arrows
Every great warrior must learn to endure and overcome the adversities of life.
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Ramayan. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kurukshetra war and the fates of the Kauravas and the Pandava princes and their successors.
Barbareek the son of Ghatotkacha and Maurvi known for his supernatural power in the Mahabharat war. Barbareek was originally a celestial being reincarnated as a man.
He was bound by his principle of always fighting on the losing side which led him to stand witness to the battle of Mahabharata without taking part in it
Before the Mahabharata war began, Lord Krishna asked all the warriors that how many days they would take to finish the Mahabharata war alone.
A warrior answered that he would take 20 days to finish the war, another convicted that it would take him 25 days.Krishna disguised as a Brahmin, stopped Barbarik to examine his strength.When he asked barbarik the answer was one that only a mightiest warrior could ever give he said “I could end the war in one minute ”
Everyone was astonished on barbarik’s call about ending the war using three arrow. Krishna then asked Barbarik how he’d finish the great battle with just three arrows. Barbarik replied that a single arrow was enough to destroy all his opponents in the war, and it would then return to his quiver. He stated that, the first arrow is used to mark all the things that he wants to destroy. If he uses the second arrow then the second arrow will mark all the things that he wants to save. On using the third arrow, all the things that are not marked will be destroyed.in other words, with one arrow he can fix all his targets and with the other he can destroy them.
Krishna then challenged him to tie all the leaves of the Peepal tree under which he was standing, using his arrows. Barbarik accepts the challenge and starts meditating to release his arrow by closing his eyes.
As Barbarik starts meditating, Krishna quietly plucks a leaf from the tree and hides it under his foot. When Barbarik releases his first arrow, it marks all the leaves of the tree and finally started hovering around the leg of Krishna. Krishna asks Barbarik why the arrow was hovering over his foot. Barbarik replies that there must be a leaf under his foot and the arrow was targeting his foot to mark the leaf that is hidden underneath. Barbarik advises Krishna to lift his leg, otherwise the arrow would mark the leaf by piercing Krishna’s foot. Krishna then lifts his foot and the first arrow also marks the hidden leaf. The other arrow then collects all the leaves (including the hidden leaf ) and ties them together. By this Krishna concludes that the arrows are so powerful and infallible, that even if Barbarik is unaware of the whereabouts of his targets, his arrows can still navigate and trace his intended targets. The significance of this incident is that in a real battlefield, Krishna cannot succeed in isolating or hiding someone to prevent them from being Barbarik’s victim, he would not be successful as the arrows could trace even the hidden targets and destroy them. So, nobody would be able to escape from these arrows. Thus Krishna gets a deeper insight into Barbarik’s phenomenal power.
Krishna then asks barbarik whom he would favor in the war. Barbarik reveals that he intends to fight for the side whichever is weak.
Pandavas to be relatively the weaker side. Krishna tells that whichever side he supports will end up making the other side weaker due to his power. Nobody will be able to defeat him. Hence, as he will be forced to switch sides to support the other side that has become weaker. Thus, in an actual war, he will keep oscillating between two sides, thereby destroying the entire army of both sides, and eventually only he would remain. Subsequently, none of the sides would become victorious and he would be the lone survivor.
Krishna then explained to him that before a battle, the head of the bravest warrior needs to be sacrificed, to worship the battlefield. Krishna said that he considered Barbarik to be the bravest among warriors, and was hence asking for his head in charity. In fulfillment of his promise, and compliance with the Krishna’s command, Barbarik sacrificed his head in the name of charity.
Before decapitating himself, Barbarik told Krishna of his great desire to view the forthcoming battle and requested him to facilitate the same. Krishna agreed and placed the head on top of a hill overlooking the battlefield. From the hill, the head of Barbarik watched the entire battle.
At the end of the battle, the victorious Pandava brothers argued among themselves as to who was responsible for their victory. Krishna suggested that Barbarik’s head, which had watched the whole battle should be allowed to judge. Barbarik’s head intimated that it was Krishna alone who was responsible for the victory.
Krishna then fused his head and body and blessed him that in Kaliyuga he would be known and worshipped after Krishna’s name and anyone who will worship him with piety will be blessed by the Lord himself. Thus Barbareek was renamed Khatu Shyam and there’s a temple devoted to him in Rajasthan.
Bibliography — www.wikipedia.com www.dainik bhaskar.com
