The Bravest Warrior of War of The Mahabharata "Baliyadev"

I was recently surprised to learn that many of us (including me at times, of course) do not know a lot of things about the Indian religious scriptures (The Hindu Scriptures by and large). I don't like the word mythology. It is derogatory and fails to convey the true spirit of the great scriptures like The Ramayana and The Mahabharata. 

It gave an idea to write some blogs on certain unknown aspects of the great Hindu religion. Mind you, I am not, neither do I claim to be, an expert of The Hinduism. But yes, my curiosity and compilation should allow me to write a reasonably valid piece of text on these aspects. 

So, today, I have decided to write an introduction of a character called "Baliyadev" from The Mahabharata.  He is  also known as Khatushyam / Barbaric / Barbarik / Belarsen / Akash Bhairav / Yalambar / Lakha-Datari etc. 

Now, the problem for Lord Krisha was that the army of the Kauravas was definitely more powerful than that of the Pandavas. So, He was trying to workout the (measure) power of various fighters fighting on each side. He knew that Bhishma / Dronacharya / Kripacharya / Karna etc. were more than capable to take on the entire army of the Pandavas and wind up the whole war in a few days to a few weeks single-handedly.

In trying to know all these, Lord Krishna came across a brave warrior named Barbarik. Barbarik was the son of Ghatodkacha and Mauravi, and the grandson of Bhim. He had blessings that he could win a war in just one day! While it would take 20 days for Bhishma to finish the war (of The Mahabharata), how could someone this young could finish the war in just one day! 

Lord Krishha, known for his ultimate wisdom and cleverness, challenged Barbarik to prove his point. Barbarik had one special blessing. He had got three special arrows. The first arrow would allow him to "select" those he would not want to save, the other (second) one would allow him to "select" those he would want to save. The third one, as you would have guessed by now, would destroy everyone selected by the first arrow. 

So, Lord Krisha decided to "test" the power of the three arrows. He challenged Barbarik to shoot down / tie (one of these tasks was assigned. Which one was specifically assigned can only be answered by Lord Krishna) all the leaves of a tall tree standing nearby (It was mostly a Pipal Tree). While Barbarik was chanting the mantras to recall (load) these arrows into his bow, Lord Krishna quietly put His leg on one of the leaves. When Barbarik fired all three arrows, one of the arrows started to hover around (Other opinion is that it pierced through Lord Krishna's leg). When Lord Krishna asked Barbarik about the reason why his arrow was hovering around his leg, Barbarik replied that Lord Krishna must have put His leg on one of the leaves! On removing His leg, the three arrows just did what they were expected to do (tie / shoot down the leaves).

Lord Krishna was more than sure that Barbarik was the bravest warrior to join the battle of Mahabharata. So, Krishna asked Barbarik, as to, which side he would support / fight for. Barbarik's logic was clear and simple: he would fight for the weaker side (The Pandavas). Lord Krishna then told him that if he decided to fight for the Pandavas, the Pandavas would become the more powerful side, as the Kauravas would start losing. Then, he would have to change the side in favour of the Kauravas, which would once again make the Pandavas the weaker side! Thus, it would start an unending process of changing sides,  and the end result would be, that none, no army shall survive, other than Barbarik himself! 

On knowing this, Barbarik seeks the solution. Lord Krishna asks him to give his head. Barbarik requests lord Krishna to allow him to view the battle of the Mahabharata, even if he would not be participating in it. Lord Krisha placed the head of Barbarik on the peak of a mountain nearby the battlefield, so that Barbarik could view the whole battle. 

So, this was a brief account of Barbarik. 

I hope you liked this piece of text. I have avoided going into micro details and also tried to narrate the whole thing in story-telling style.

Please do share your feedback on pvariya@gmail.com 

Please do tell me what would like to read in future.