Barbarica Story In Mahabharata | Strongest Warrior In Mahabharata | బర్బరికుని కథ

There is no description of Barbaric in original Mahabharat composed by Vyas. Story of Barbaric is a folk story. According to this story, Barbaric was grandson of Bheemsen and son of Ghatotkacha. He was very brave. Once he defeated Bheemsen and he could win whole world by his three arrows. He couldn't take part in Kurukshetra war because Shrikrishna took his head in donations. He is worshipped by name Khatu Shyam. His temple is in khatu, Barbarik was the son of Ghatotkach and Hidimba. Now being Ghatotkach's son, Barbarik was a powerful asura. He had a boon from lord Shiva who presented him with three infallible arrows. We'll come to this part later. Once ,when lord Krishna ask each warrior how long they would take to finish the Kurukshetra war alone, Bhishma answered, he could finish the work in 20 days. While Dronacharya said 26 days would suffix for him, Karna said 27, and Arjuna answered he could do it in 28 days. Sometime after Krishna was passing through a forest when he saw Barbarik heading towards the kurukshetra battlefield. Krishna disguised himself as a brahmin and asked the same question. Barbarik replied, “1 minute". At first, Krishna thought he was joking. When Krishna probed, he said, “I have three arrows. With the first one, I will mark all the targets that I want to kill. With the second, I will mark all the targets that I don't want to kill. When I release the third arrow, all the target that I have marked with the first arrow shall be destroyed, and all the targets of the second arrow will be saved. That's how, all the enemies will be destroyed in a single stroke.” For everyone who heard this , it was hard to believe that such a weapon existed. But, Krishna knew that Barbarik was not lying. So he requested him to give a demonstration of his arrows. There was a mango tree nearby.Krishna asked Barbarik to destroy all the leaves of the tree. While Barbarik meditated to charges his arrows ,Krishna plucked 1 leaf from the tree and put it under his right foot. After Barnarik had gathered his arrows, he used the first arrow mark all the leaves of the tree. Then he used the second arrow to mark all the other objects he did not wish to destroy. After that he released the third arrow. The third arrow destroyed all the leaves of the tree except the one under Krishna's foot. After it had finished wiping out all the leaves of the tree, it hovered over Krishna's right foot. When Krishna lifted his foot ,the arrow destroyed the last leaf as well. Krishna understood the power of Barbarik's arrows. He realised that Barbarik was alone sufficient to erase the camps of both Kauravas and the Pandavas in a day. So he asked Barbarik , “From whose side are you going to fight?” Barbarik replied that he had promised his mother he would be fighting in support of the weaker side. This got Krishna thinking, for whichever side Barbarik picked , would inevitably become the stronger side. Even if Barbarik destroyed one part of the rival camp, he would need to switch sides and go to the other camp that would consequently become the weaker side. Again , Barbarik would swap and come back to the original camp. This would go on until all the warriors of both camps were vanquished. Krishna feared total annihilation of the Pandavas. To avoid such a disaster, Krishna asked Barbarik to offer the Lord his head. Barbarik was shocked. He suspected there was more to a Brahmin. He asked the Brahmin to reveal his identity. At this, Krishna appeared in his divine form. Barbarik was enlightened. Krishna explained to Barbarik that the bravest warrior must be sacrificed for sanctifying the battlefield, and for that, he needed Barbarik's head. The latter agreed to sacrifice but on the condition that he should be able to see the entire Kurukshetra War. Krishna agreed and after Barbarik offered his head, Krishna placed it on the highest hill , overlooking the battlefield. Thus, apart from Sanjay, Dhritarashtra's courtier, who narrated the Kurukshetra War to Dhritarashtra, Barbarik was the only one who saw the complete war. This tale was known only to a select few among the Pandavas' camp.

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