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This is the tale of the grandson of Bheema and the son of Ghatotkacha and Mauravi – Barbarika. It is fair to assume that the Mahabharat’s battlefield saw the greatest of the great warriors of Dwapara Yuga. This is the story of a lesser-known warrior amongst the ones who have sacrificed their lives for Dharma to emerge victoriously. Not many people are aware that if this warrior had entered the battle, it could have marked the end of both sides and he alone would have survived.
However, the historical battlefield of the Mahabharat war had neither seen the face of this warrior nor his immense powers.
Born in the family of such mighty warriors, Barbarika was a gifted child. In his teenage, Barbarika is said to have become the disciple of a Yogi who acquired great powers. This Yogi taught him all that he knew and Barbarika soon became a mighty warrior and defeating him was almost impossible. Further, his mother Ahilawati also called Mauravi being a great warrior herself, taught him the art of warfare. Before the battle started, Lord Krishna asked everyone present here as to how long would it take for them to finish the war alone. To this Barbarika answered that he could end the entire Kurukshetra war in a minute, where eminent figures like Bhisma, Dronacharya, Karna, and Arjuna among the others replied on an average that it would take them 24 days to complete the war, all by themselves.
Such are the powers of this warrior – Barbarika!
Throughout his childhood and teenage, Barbarika considered Lord Shiva as his ultimate guru (teacher) and remained a great devotee. He was then given three infallible arrows (Teen Baan) as a result of his skills as a warrior. While some tales narrate that Lord Shiva himself had given Barbarika these arrows, the others illustrate that Ashtadeva (Eight Gods) gave him these three infallible arrows. Further, Agni (The God of Fire) gave him the bow that makes him invincible in the three worlds. From then on, Barbarika was known to be Teen Baan Dhaari (Bearer of Three Arrows). Barbarika could easily use these arrows to wipe off the entire race in a matter of a few minutes!
The Kurukshetra War
He got news of Mahabharata battle from Narada Muni. Upon learning about the Kurukshetra war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas through the message of Narada, Barbarika expressed his desire to witness the war to his mother. However, his mother takes a word from him that if he finds it necessary to fight in the war, he would fight along the side which is on the losing edge of the war at that point. He rode to the field on his Blue Horse equipped with his three arrows and bow. He then proceeds towards the battleground. It is when Lord Krishna learns about him and decides to test the skills of Barbarika. Lord Krishna disguises as a brahmin and meets Barbarika on the way to the battleground. Lord Krishna was left curious about how he could finish the war in a minute’s time where Barbarik was spotted heading ahead with just three arrows and a bow.
Also referred to as Yalamber, Barbarika then illustrates Krishna the power of those arrows and informs him about the boon that he acquired from Lord Agni. He further explains how these arrows cannot be destroyed and add that at the end of the task, all the arrows would come to return to the quiver back again. He goes on to say the significance of each arrow.
The first arrow was to identify all the objects on the field that are to be destroyed. The second arrow was to be used to identify the objects on the field that are to be saved. Lastly, the third arrow was to destroy the objects identify and marked by the first arrow or destroy the objects not identified by the second arrow. Hearing this, Lord Krishna is amused and wanted to examine if the powers of the arrows are real. He asks Barbarika to bundle up all the leaves of the tree they were both standing under, at that point in time. While Barbarika prepares to leave his first arrow, Krishna decides to trick him and hides one of the leaves under his feet. On releasing the arrow, it bundles up all the leaves and further starts revolving around Krishna’s feet. To this, Barbarika answers that there must be a leaf under Krishna’s feet which turns out to be true. Soon when Krishna lifts his leg, the last leaf is bundled and marked along with the others.
In this instance, Krishna learns about the power of the arrows and that of Barbarika. Further, disguised Krishna asks Barbarik as to which side he wanted to fight along. He then replies that he wanted to fight for the Pandavas. He adds on saying he had two strong reasons to do so. One was that Bheem was his paternal grandfather. The second one was that as per numbers, Pandavas had a smaller army and that they were relatively weaker than Kauravas at that point in time. So eventually he would join the Pandavas as they seem to be on the weaker side.
However, Lord Krishna thinks that it was risky if Barbarik joins the war even on the side of the Pandavas. He thinks how at a certain point in time when Kauravas would get weaker than the Pandavas and eventually Barbarik would start shifting sides in the war because of his word given to his mother. This would to a wash of the entire battlefield. If Barbarika fights alongside Kauravas – against the Pandavas, then there is no way Pandavas can hide from these arrows and their defeat is certain. Hence, Lord Krishna explains the paradox of the situation to Barbarika. He said that Kauravas had 11 Akshauhini army (an Akshauhini contains 21,870 elephants, 21,870 chariots, 65,610 Horses, and 109,350 soldiers) and Pandavas had only 7 of them. In that case, Barbareek would start the war against the Kauravas but after only a few moments he will take the side of the Kauravas against the Pandavas due to the magnificent power of his arrows.
Barbarika then realizes his mistake. But it was too late for him to both take back his word or step back from the war. Krishna then asks Barbarik who his guru was. To this, Barbarika replies that his guru is one and only the almighty Lord Vishnu. Clearing his dilemma, Krishna who is still disguised as the brahmin, advises him to give his head as guru Dakshina (donation to guru). Hearing this, Barbarika was eager to know who the brahmin was and asks him to reveal his true identity. Lord Krishna then showed Barbarika a vision of His Divine Form. Krishna now explained to him the reason behind his disguised identity and the consequence of his promise to his mother.
He explained to Barbarika that before the battle, in order to worship the battlefield, the head of the bravest Kshatriya needs to be sacrificed. He adds that Dharma needs to win the war and for that this battle needs a sacrifice from the bravest soldier. That sacrifice can only be given by Lord Barbarika himself. It is believed he was one of the only two warriors who has seen the divine form of Lord Krishna. The other one being Arjuna during the war itself. Barbarika then gets ready to sacrifice his head to his guru – none other than the Lord Vishnu himself, for the victory of Dharma over Adharma.
He sacrifices his head in the presence of Lord Krishna on the 12th day of the Shukla Paksha (bright half) of the month of Phalguna. Through the charity of his head, Barbarika from then was known to be Sheesh ke daani (donor of head).
Barbarika’s Previous Birth
It was known that this sacrifice of Barbarik was a result of his actions in his previous life. Barbarika was a Yaksha (a class of spirit beings or semi-divine beings and are often protectors of treasures) in his previous birth. Once, Lord Brahma and other Devas (Gods) visit Vaikuntha and complain about the growing Adharma (wrongness or evil) on the Earth, to Lord Vishnu. The add that it was not possible for them to bear with the wicked actions of humans anymore and hence came to seek the help of Lord Vishnu to keep a check on them. Lord Vishnu told the Devas that he will soon be incarnated on Earth as a human being and destroy all the evil forces. Then, a Yaksha told the Devas that he alone is enough to kill all evil elements on the Earth and that it was not necessary for Lord Vishnu to descend to Earth. On hearing this, Lord Brahma got offended and cursed this Yaksha that whenever the time comes to eliminate all the evil forces on Earth, then Lord Vishnu will first kill him. By this, he meant that Yaksha will not get a chance to wash away all the evil elements as he will get killed by the incarnation of Lord Vishnu first.
As a result of Lord Brahma’s curse, it is believed that this Yaksha has taken birth as Barbarika and Lord Krishna – the incarnation of Lord Vishnu to end the Adharma seeks his head in charity.
Before the sacrifice, Barbarika expresses his last wish to see the Mahabharat Battle to Lord Krishna and asks him to fulfill this desire. Upon receiving Krishna’s agreement, Barbarika cuts his head off and gave it to Krishna. Lord Krishna kept his head alive and placed his head on top of a hill. From there, he could witness the entire battle through the special eyesight Lord Krishna had provided him.
The End of the Historical Battle
Later after the battle ended, the five Pandavas start arguing about who amongst them was the greatest warrior and who is ultimately responsible for their victory against Kauravas. Lord Krishna then suggested Pandavas to ask Barbarik’s head that who is responsible for their victory. Barbarika was thought to be the best person to judge since he has witnessed the entire war.
When Pandavas asked him about the same, Barbarika’s head replies that it was Lord Krishna alone who was responsible for their victory: his advice, his presence, his game-plan played a crucial part and helped the Pandavas win the war. Barbarika adds saying, “All I could see were two things. One, a divine chakra spinning all around the battle field, killing all those who were not on the side of Dharma. The other was Goddess Mahakali, who spread out her tongue on the battle field and consumed all the sinners as her sacrifice”. Adding, “Those who were killed were also Krishna and those who were killing were also Krishna. I only saw Krishna’s sudarshana.” The wisdom of Barbarika’s words contained the essence of the Bhagavath Gita. The five Pandavas then realised that they are mere objects in the hands of the Lord, to carry out the task of cleaning up the world from the wide-spread Adharma. It was Lord Vishnu and Goddess Mahamaya who are actually responsible for their victory.
After the war, Barbarika’s head was joined with his body and he left that place for narrating the whole world to maintain peace. Krishna was extremely happy and pleased with the devotion and the great sacrifice made by Barbareek. He then granted him a boon that he would be known by Krishna’s own name (Shyam) in the kali yuga (current era) and will solve the problems of your devotees. So Barbarika was blessed with the name Khatu Shyam.
Although the story of this warrior still remains an unsung song, he is widely worshipped by devotees. Rituals and prayers have evolved with Bhakts (devotees) worshipping as Lord Krishna’s devotee. Also, there is a temple devoted to Khatushyam (Barbarika) where devotees sing the songs of his greatness and seek the blessings of this warrior who never fought any war!
श्याम देवाय बर्बरीकाय हरये परमात्मने ।। प्रणतः क्लेशनाशाय सुह्र्दयाय नमो नमः।।
महा धनुर्धर वीर बर्बरीकाय नमः ।।
श्री मोर्वये नमः ।।
श्री मोर्वी नन्दनाय नमः ।।
ॐ सुह्र्दयाय नमो नमः ।।
श्री खाटूनाथाय नमः ।।
श्री मोर्वये नमः ।।
श्री शीशदानेश्वराय नमः ।।
ॐ श्री श्याम शरणम् मम: ।।
