The Story of Barbarik: Was Barbarik the strongest warrior in Mahabharat ?
During the Mahabharata, there were many great warriors. The story of Barbarik appears in many folklore versions of the Mahabharata war but not in the version by vedvyasa. This is one such version.
Who was Barbarik ?
Barbarik was a powerful warrior of the demon clan during the age of Mahabharata. According to him, he had the power to end the war with his 3 divine arrows in a minute if he had to fight in it. He was more powerful than the combined powers of many great prolific warriors of the age.
Who was Barbarik's father ?
Barbarik was born to Gatothkach, a fearsome demon, the son of the second Pandava Bheem, and Maurvi, the daughter of the demon Moor. During the vana parva, Pandavas meet the demon Hidimb. Bheem eventually defeats the demon and marries the demon's sister Hidimbi. They had a son Gatothkacha, who is well versed in demon magic and a fearsome warrior.
Gatothkacha participates in the kurukshetra war and proves to be a vital ally for the Pandavas. Gatothkacha marries Maurvi and their son is much more powerful then the father. Barbarik learns the art of war during a young age fro his mother.
How strong was Barbarik ?
He was an exteremely powerful warrior during the age of Mahabharata. It is widely common in the folklore that he was capable of ending the Mahabharata war with just three arrows. Yes, you read that right. 11 akshauhinis of Kauravas and 7 akshauinins of Pandavas, all could have been defeated by Barbarik, such was his might. It is said that Barbarik was more powerful and elusive warrior when compared to his father Gatothkacha.
Barbarik was blessed by Lord Shiva himself with 3 divine and infallible arrows and he could use these any number of times. With these three arrows he could take on any opponent or army and win easily. Just 2 of his arrows were sufficient to destroy an entire army. With his first arrow, he could mark all the targets that he wanted to destory. With his second arrow he could mark all the targets that he wanted saved. And with the final arrow, he could destroy all the targets in one shot even if he is unaware of his targets.
Was Barbarik stronger than Bheema ?
It is said that both had a duel and eventually Barbarik was able to overpower Bheema in the fight.
Was Barbarik stronger than Karna ?
Karna, the eldest of all Kauravas and Pandavas was hailed as one of the most stronest warriors during his time. Both had many powerful divine weapons at their disposal. Karna had many divine wepaons, may be some of them would have been capable of counteracting Barbarik's weapons or astras. But how long would any of them last in a duel is really up for debate.
Was Barbarik stronger than Krishna ?
Barbarik was a mortal warrior and Krishna was an incarnation of the Lord Narayan. So we really beleive there is no need to compare Barbarik's powers with those of Krishna as we see Krishna perform many miraclous deeds during the course of the Mahabharat. It is also said that Krishna had defeated Barbarik with this wit without using any of his divine powers.
Why didn't Barbarik fight in the Mahabharata War ?
When the news about the war spread all across the distants lands, Barbarik came to know about the war and was excited to participate in it. Barbarik started off to the war packing his bow and arrows. He hadn't yet decided which side he would be fighting with. He had promised his teacher that he will always fight on the losing side. Lord Krishna knew that Barbarik has set out to join the battle. Krishna was worried that Barbarik might join Kauravas and the war could turn one-sided.
One day when Barbarik, on his journey towards the warfield, was resting under a banyan tree, Krishna disguised himself as a sage and met with Barbarik. The sage enquired what Barbarik was doing here. Barbarik answers that he has come to participae in the Mahabharata war. The sage then asked that Barbarik has only 3 arrows in his quiver and ow will he possibly fight without arrows. To this, Barbarik replies that only 3 arrows are suficeint for him to win the entire battle.
The sage then decided to test his strength and asked for display of Barbarik's powers. He pointed towards the banyan tree and aksed Barbarik to imagine that all the leaves are soldiers of an arym and demonstrate how he will fight the tree with this arrows. Barbarik accepted this challenge and positioned one of his arrow on his bow and started chanting to invoke the first divine weapon. Meanwhile, Krishna quietly plucked on of the leaf and hid it under his feet. Barbarik fired his first arrow to mark his target. This arrow marked all the leaves of the banyan tree.
When Barbarik invoked and fired the second arrow, all the leaves of the tree were pierced and all leaves fell to the ground demostrating the power of his divine arrows. However, Lord Krishna disguised as the sage, hid one of the leaf under his feet. The second arrow reamined hovering over his feet for quite some time. In an alternate version, it is said that the second arros hurts the sage's feet. Barbarik knowing that no one could escape his arrow, realised that the sage was someone special.
Barbarik requested the sage to know his identity and Lord Krishna shed his disguise and appeared in his true form. To this Barbarik was overjoyed and fell to his knees and worshipped Krishna. During his childhood, his demon father Gatothkacha requested Krishna to give his son formal training as a teacher. Krishna accepted and trained Barbarik as his own son. Barbarik had immense respect for his teacher.
Barbarik offered to give something to his teacher Krishna and asked what Krishna wanted. Krishna immediately replied that before the war, the bravest warrior of the Kshtriyas was to be sacrified as a ritual and Krishna considered Barbarik as the bravest and asked Barbarik to renounce his life and hand over his head. Barbarik was filled with sorrow and pleaded that he had heard about this great war of the ages and had come to witness the war. If he dies, his wish will not be fulfilled.
Krishna replied that Barbarik's head will still be alive and will be able to see the war and hear everything. Barbarik agreed and took out his sword and cut off his own head. With this Krishna had averted one more threat to the Pandavas with this wit. Krishna placed Barbarik's head on top of a mountain near by the warfield of Kurukshetra so that Barbarik's head can see all the war.
What happened to Barbarik after the Mahabharata war ?
Eventually, after the war, there was a fight among the soldiers about who was the strongest warrior. They asked Krishna to resolve the dispute, but Krishna said there is one who has seen the entire war and can answer this question correctly. He directed them towards the mountian. When they found Barbarik's head, they enquired on who was the strongest warrior. To this, the head replies that he only saw one person that destroyed the Kauravas and it was none other than Lord Krishna himself.
When Krishna was asked why he did to this Barbarik, Krishna says that one who doesnt side and is on all sides is dangerous for the society. If Barbarik was alive, he would switch side as soon as he realized the other side was loosing and thus the war would never end.
After this, Lord Krishna gave a boon to Barbarik that he will be worshipped as Shyam, one of Krishna's many names, and let the head flow in a nearby river. Later in the Kaliyuga, the head was found in a river in the present day Rajasthan in India. There is a temple built in the name of Barbarik and is still worshipped to this day as 'Khatu Shyam' in the region.
