Story of Barbari in mahabharat

Barbari – if he had fought the Mahabharat war

Barbari or Barbarika has been a less written but important character of Mahabharat. He has been the illustrious son of the great warrior Ghatotkacha. Ghatotkacha has been himself the son of great Bhima and Hidimba.

Lord Shiva has granted him three infallible arrows which had the power to conquer the whole world. Agni god has bestowed him with a bow.

Before the Mahabharata war began, Lord Krishna queried the warriors how many days he would take to finish Mahabharat war alone. Bhishma answered that he would take 20 days to finish the war. Dronacharya said 25 days. Karna  said he would take 24 days. Arjuna told Krishna it would take 28 days for him to complete the battle.

Khatu Shyam jee or Barbari (Mahabharat)

Then he asked Barbari as how many days he would require? Barbari replied that he would take only a minute. Krishna baited Barbarika by mocking him for going to the great battle with only three arrows. In reply, Barbari proved to Krishna that he indeed would require only a minute.

Krishna then asks the boy whom he would favour in the war of Mahabharat. Barbarika reveals that he intends to fight from the weaker side. As Pandavas have only seven Akshouhini army, when compared to Kauravas eleven, he considers that Pandavas are weak and hence wants to support them. Krishna explains  consequence of his word to Barbari’s mother.

Krishna tells that whichever side Barbari supports will only make the other side weak due to his power. Nobody has the skill or power to defeat him. Hence, he is forced to support the other side that has become weaker due to his word to his mother. Thus, in an actual war, he will keep switching between the two sides, thereby destroying the entire army of both sides and eventually only he survives. Subsequently, none of the side is victorious as he will be the only lone survivor. Hence, Krishna avoids his participation from the war by seeking his head in charity.

As a true Kshatriya, he offered himself to be sacrificed, but he did have a condition. The condition was that he had left his home with a singular desire to witness the epic battle, so could Lord Krishna use some of his divinity to grant him that ability. So it is said that after the sacrifice, Barbareek’s head was installed atop a hilltop from where he witnessed the entire battle and thus he is also referred to as ‘Barbari – the silent witness’.

He is also known as Teen Baandhari and Khatu Shyamji. He is one of the persons who saw Shri Krishna’s vishwaroopa form.

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Subrata Sen
10 years ago

I OFFERS MY PRANAM TO BARBARI, MY …

Subrata Sen
10 years ago

I OFFER MY PRANAM TO BARBARI…

Rajesh Kumar
9 years ago

waw what a amazing power

prajeesh
prajeesh
8 years ago

Great warrior….

Sankar Chatterjee
8 years ago

Need such an warrior with immense power to demolish the 'adharma' from the world, though as per our 'PURANAS' , ' KALKI ' the 10th incarnation of ' LORD VISHNU' will be incarnated at the end of ' KALI 'but this is far away because , the present yuga' kali' is like a new born baby with 5000 years(approx ) while the actual span of the 'kali' yuga is 432000 years,meanwhile a change should have to come. let us pray to the almighty god to save the good and demolish the evil. HAR HAR MAHADEV.

pawan
pawan
8 years ago

Koti koti naman barbareek

Ronny Choudhary
8 years ago

It all was the plan of god ( LORD KRISHNA).
First god gave them power tooke it back.
Still sayd he( god) is doinglots of thing.
Dont say that someone surviving nd this is wrong, he knows everythin g nd giving the same as one do or did.
Thanks

Neel Jayaram
8 years ago

Interesting Information! The Mahabharata war happened between the Pandavas and the kauravas. The Kauravas were led by Duriyodhana and the Pandavas by Yudishtra and his brothers Bheema, Arjuna, Nakul and Sahadeva. Among the many interesting facts about the Mahabharatha, one stands out, it is as below. Neither Arjuna, Karna nor Bheeshma were the strongest during the Mahabharatha war. It was Barbarik, Bheema's Grandson and the son Ghatokacha.

Adya
Adya
8 years ago

Amazing story about barbari. A lot of people don’t know about this amazing story and he was the strongest amongst all the warriors in Mahabharata.
Thanks.

Raja Shekar
7 years ago

always a dought in mind wat we want to learn from mahabharath……………….??????????????

Pria
3 years ago
Reply to  Raja Shekar

Without reflection their is Emptiness If you reflect the drought will be gone with rains of understanding., You have to reflect to fill this draught on your own for yourself. Simply consuming something results in nothing but if you consume and then digest you get the real power.

The RAIN from study of Mahabharata can be achieved by a process called Swadhayay = Self study which includes reading, listening, reflecting, experimenting, observing, memorizing, recounting, and finally understanding. Hence practice Swadhaya to achieve this aapyayan that is filling this draught with nourishing waters.

Here is some help – This particular understanding (aapyanana) is the results of my personal Swadhaya.

What we can lean from Mahabharata ?

That there are various periods in history of men on earth, one particular key moment is described in Mahabharat the end of Dwapar and beginning of Kaliyuga. But you can read Puranas to learn about other periods in history. For example Shree Raam episode occurs at the end of Traita and the beginning of Dwapar.
That Gods, Goddesses, Asur, Manav, Rakshasha, Yaksha, Gandharvas are real and incarnate on earth as per the results of their good and bad deeds from various lokas where they are the primary residents,(devlok, yaksha loka, Gandharvaloka, paatal etc) this is the traffic of life on earth.
Variety of beings are living on earth at the same time in form of Humans, so even now some humans are devta-ansha some are asuras, some apasaras, other rakshasha,
Once incarnate they reflect on the meaning of their life , the reason they are here, they act in accordance with their original sanskaras (habitual behaviors developed over very long periods of time, which becomes our default character in life) and as a result of fruits of their actions (Karmas) and in order to resolve them. That is why this earth is called Karmabhumi.
That all karmas are resolved by incarnation on earth because here incarnated beings are born devoid of all of their memories except the ones which one needs to understand the best. For example – If someone is otherwise a good person but simply does not reflect on the meaning of his words he will be reborn here to understand this one simple fact – Think before you speak. In his trials he might face many mistakes and finally complete his mission and be reunited with his true self, or achieve many other options that are available to someone born on earth, (Nirvana, Mukti, Jeevmukti, Salokya, Sayujaya etc)
That life and death are continuously played out and everyone who is born dies and is reborn, one must not feel excessive pain at departure of a loved one or excessively happy at the death of an enemy because until the core issues of a person are not resolved you will continue experiencing life and death and life and death in cycle of reincarnation this experience is had by the JeevAtma,
The cause of our pain is our lack of knowledge (agyan) about the existence and nature of this technology called MAYA also known as prakarti, this technology is partly created by higher beings (Greater consciousness like Mahadev, Brhamji & Shree Krishna)
and partly self manifest as evidenced through its own power of self creation (Swambhu) ,these powers in one word are also called Devi Shakti – or specifically its own nature or Prakrati. This Devi is also called DURGA i.e very difficult to understand and becomes easier when one prays to Durga, as she then reveals these things to us slowly but clearly. She can TEACH us and remove the agyan.
She self exits by the power of its own : Mahavidgya (its own intelligence), Mahashakti (Its own source of energy) and Mahamaya (its own resources) and you can also call them Maha Saraswati, Maha Kali and Mahalaxmi with their Purusha counterparts known as Brhama, Vishnu and Shiv. However as you can see from this explanation all of them are three aspect of the same, one core Super Intelligence called Parma-atma.
Purusha is the stabilized aspect of Maya and Prakarti or Stree is the transformative aspect of this Maya. Hence Shivji, and Vishnuji are super powerful because they are stabilized aspect of this prakarti one in form of sustaining power Vishnuji and other in form of Mahadeva. And they are helped by their own transformative powers called their wives Laxmi and Parvati.
This MAYA …( Including the four seasons, days of the week, life in the ocean , on land, in air or on earth with multitudes of beings,) … its functions run around some core principle or fundamental laws of its creations called its Truth or Dharmas.
Some Dharmas are transient and based on time and location, some dharmas are eternal they apply no matter what age, what time, who experiences them why or how, these eternal laws or eternal truths are hence called Sanatana Dharma which is the real name of Hindu Dharma, it is not a man made religion, it is the understanding of THE ETERNAL LAW OF THE UNIVERSE – SANATANA DHARMA, those (jeevatams) who understand bits and parts of this Sanatana Dharma are born as Hindus. Those who don’t understand it at all are born elsewhere.
Hence first cause of our suffering is our Agyan about the Satya, Dharma of this mother goddess called Prakarti, : That is our lack of knowledge about what these Dharmas are under which our cycle of rebirths occur , Why, How and when something occurs . We can heal this suffering by praying to the stabilized Purusha in form of Narayana, Vishnu, Shree Krishna or Mahadev.
Hence in Sanatana Dharma we are regularly reminded to pray to Devi Durga and Mahashiv etc.
We also suffer not knowing the Dharma that rules the nature of our actions (based on our own personal truths, own own Sanskaras and desires which results in our actions and the results of which are called Karmaphala. These we reap in accordance with the laws (dharma) of this universe (Prakarti) . Hence this earth and our life lived on earth is reflection of our Dharma Kshetra. and Karma kshetra.
The examples are very simple as well as very complex – Simple example – Agyan about prakarti of Agni will result in us getting drawn by its warmth on a vert cold night and thinking it to be some form of blanket entering the fire and getting burned. Or jumping from cliff not knowing what will happen is another example but over the years we have learned hence we have acquired Gyan about getting burned by fire we dare not put our hand into it or jump off from a cliff. Similarly we keep learning various truths, regarding our own prakarti, sanskara karma and desires etc.
These truths are explained in Mahabharat, These truths are summarized in Bhagwad Geeta.
If you read them both, reflect and observe , if you practice Swadhayay you can be free from suffering, free from agyan, free from cycles of rebirth and become one with its creators, or be playful and be born here or there per your own desires, like shree Krishna , be all knowing, all powerful like Mahadeva, be all loving and sustaining like Shree Vishnu, and be Jeevamukta like Bhuddha Bhagwan.
All these secrets are written plainly here, sometimes as examples in from of stories , sometimes very directly as updesh, but agyani human mind suffering from various illusions and strong attachments to this or that idea, keep translating these books in variety of confusing ways which creates doubts.
T he only thing that saves us are then these rather simple and memorable stories which eventually open up the secrets to us in their own time and we say AHA !!! now I have no drought in my soul and I am drenched, drenched, drenched and fully satisfied by these truths.