Category Archives: Mahabharat Katha

Mahabharata: The Wrath of the Kuru Clan and a story of Revenges

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“Revenge is a dish best served cold” 

How true this line is in context of Mahabharata.

It is believed that Mahabharata is a symbol of victory of truth over lies, but here are few incidents related to revenge. Based on these we can say that this epic from Indian mythology contains lots of hatred as well. We can open a whole debate of what Mahabharat is all about.  And this does not take away the magic of this epic. Read the following Indian stories from Mahabharata. You will agree that revenge is indeed a strong feeling in Mahabharata.

Revenge of Amba

Amba got her revenge when she born as Shikhandi. She became the reason for killing of Bhishma. Bhishma abducted three sisters, Amba, Ambika and Ambalika for his brothers, but Amba had to kill herself because she was rejected by her lover. This was because Bhishma abducted her. Before dying, she vowed that she will eventually will be a reason for downfall of Bhishma. In her next life, she was born as Shikhandi. Shikhandi fought the war of Mahabharat from Pandavas side.  Arjuna, using Shikhandi as shield, killed Bhishma. Bhishma could not fought back because he knew that Shikhandi was a lady in her past life. Thus, Amba became a reaosn for killing of Bhishma.

Indian mythology story from Mahabharat
Bhishma on his death bed

Drona and Drupada

King Drupada got his revenge when Dhristadyumna, his son killed Drona in the battle of Mahabharat. Drona and Drupada were childhood friends and Drupada later became a king. Drona reached out to him for financial help but Drupada did not treat him properly. Drona vowed to took revenge and later Pandavas presented him before Drona as a prisoner. Drupada vowed that he would beget a son who would kill Drona.  Dhristadyumna was born as his son who killed Drona. Draupadi, the wife of pandavas, was the daughter of Drpada and sister of Dhristadyumna.

Revenge of Draupadi – death of Dushashana

Dushashana insulted Draupadi and dragged her by her hair and paid heavily with his life. Draupadi vowed that she would tie her hair only when they are covered with Dushashana’s blood taken out from his heart. Later Bheem, her husband killed Dushashana and broght the blood from his heart to Draupadi.

Satisfied, Draupadi tied her hair after they were immersed in Dushashana’s blood, when Bhima killed him and brought blood from his heart in the mahabharata war.

Draupadi cheerharan
Draupadi cheerharan

 

Revenge of Bhima and death of Duryodhana

Duryodhana also insulted Draupadi and asked her to sit on his thighs. Bheem vowed to break his thigh. In Mahabharata war, he did the same. This was against the rules of war, and Balram objected, but nevertheless, Krishna intervened.  Thus, Bhima was able to took his revenge. There is also an interesting story of how Duryodhana’s thigh was vulnerable.  Rest of his body was strong as a rock and impenetrable.

Revenge of Bheem – death of Kichak

When Panadavas were living in hiding during their Agyaatvaas, Kichak was troubling Draupadi. He was making undue advances towards her. One day, Draupadi invited him to a clandestine place. Bhima was waiting for him.  Bhima killed the mighty Kichak. Kauravas realized that Pandavas may be hiding there only since there were only few people who could overpower Kichak. Bheem was one of them.

This aspect of mahabharat fascinates me so much. Every small story is related to another story.  For example, death of Kichak was a significant event. This led to Kauravas realizing where Pandavas are hiding.

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Kichak and Draupadi in Mahabharat

Mahabharata – A story of revenges (Indian Mythology)

Barbarika surprises Sri Krishna

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Barbarika and his three arrows

When Shri Krishna mocked Barbari that how he is hoping to win the Mahabharat war with three arrows? (Read the story of Barbari)

He responded that a single arrow was enough to destroy all his opponents in the war, and it would then return to his quiver. He further explained that, the first arrow is used to mark all the things that he wants to destroy. On releasing the third arrow, it would destroy all the things that are marked and will then return to his quiver. If he uses the second arrow, then the second arrow will mark all the things that he wants to save. On using the third arrow, it will destroy all the things that are not marked.

In other words, with one arrow he can fix all his targets and with the other he can destroy them. Krishna then challenges him to tie all the leaves of the peepal tree under which he was standing, with those arrows.

Barbari accepts the challenge and starts meditating to release his arrow by closing his eyes. Then, Krishna without the knowledge of Barbari, plucks one of the leaf of the tree and puts it under his foot. When Barbari releases his first arrow, it marks all the leaves of the tree and finally starts revolving around the leg of Krishna.

Barbari sacrificing his life as a true warrior to Shri Krishna in mahabharat

Then Krishna asks Barbari, as why was the arrow revolving around his foot? For this, Barbarika replies that there must be a leaf under his foot and the arrow was targeting his foot to mark the leaf that is hidden under him.

Barbari advises Krishna to lift his leg, since, otherwise the arrow will mark the leaf by pricking Krishna’s leg. Thus, Krishna lifts his foot and to his surprise, finds that the first arrow also marks the leaf that was hidden under his foot. Of course, the third arrow does collect all the leaves (including the one under Krishna’s foot) and ties them together.

With this, Krishna concludes that the arrows are so infallible, that even if Barbari is not aware of his targets, the arrows are so powerful that they can still navigate and trace all his intended targets. The moral of this incident is that, in a real battle field, if Krishna wants to isolate someone (for example: the 5 Pandava brothers) and hides them elsewhere in order to avoid them from being Barbarika’s victim, then Krishna will not be successful as the arrows can still trace the target and destroy them. So, nobody will be able to escape from these arrows. Thus Krishna gets a deeper insight about Barbari’s phenomenal power.

Seven great warriors and how they died in Mahabharata – in pictures

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Death of various great warriors in Mahabharata war

 

Mahabharata was was fought over for eighteen days. The major part saw the prowess of Bhishma. He was on the verge of decimating pandavas army single-handedly, before Shikhandi came to the rescue of Pandavas. Following is a brief on how the great warriors were neutralized and killed.

End of Duryodhana

Bhima vowed that he would avenge Draupadi’s insult by breaking his thighs. Also, due to a boon from Gandhari, his body became invulnerable except for thighs. During his duel with Duryodhana in mahabharata war, Bhima broke Duryodhana’s thighs. Balrama fiercely protested but calmed by Krishna.

Bhima killed all the Kaurava’s, most notable of those were of Duryodhana’s and Dushashana’s.

Duel between Bhima and Duryodhana

 

Duryodhana killed by Bhima in Mahabharata

Drona’s Death

Drona was proving too much for the pandava’s army on the fifteenth day of the mahabharata war. In a desperate bid  to be saved from the onslaught, they resorted to some less than wanted tactic. On advise of Shri Krishna, Bhima claimed that his son, Ashwaththama is slain. Drona clarified this from Yudhishthira and went into meditation. He was killed by Dhrishtdyumna, son of Drupad.

Dhrishtdyumna killing Drona (The Teacher) in the battle of Mahabharat

Dhrishtdyumna killing Drona (The teacher of princes) in the battle of Mahabharat

End of Bhishma

Bhishma was the son of Shantanu and Ganges. He was the supreme commander of Kauravas in the mahabharata war. He himself let pandavas know the secret of his downfall. Otherwise, he was proving to be too much for pandavas and got Sri Krishna agitated as well.

Bhishma falling in kurukshetra battle field

 

Bhishma leaving his body in presence of Shri Krishna

Abhimanyu’s unjust killing

Abhimanyu was the son of Arjuna and Subhadra and was a great warrior. His unjust killing in mahabarata led to the killing of Kauravas.

Abhimanyu trapped in chakravyuha

Only Abhimanyu had the knowledge of penetrating a chakravyuha. Drona plans a chakravyuha to capture Yudhishthira, but Abhimanyu was there for his rescue. But the boy did not know how to come out of that and though he was surrounded by all warriors including Duryodhana, Karna and others, yet he was proving difficult to overcome. At last, against the rules of war, he was killed by son of Dushashana after a mace fight.

Abhimanyu - Mahabharat war

Abhimanyu fought valiantly

Abhimanyu killed by Dushashana’s son on thirteenth day of Mahabharata war.

Karna – a death due to curses

In the war of kurukshetra, Karna’s chariot got stuck in the mud. He was unable to fight due to a curse from his teacher, Parshurama.

Karna chariot stuck in mud

Arjuna killed him with the weapon anjalika while he was trying to retrieve the wheel. At this point of time, he was sans any weapon, which was against the rules of the war.

Arjuna kills Karna

Dushashana for his wrongdoing

During Draupadi’s cheerharan, Dushashan dragged her in the courtroom by holding her hair. Draupadi vowed that she would not tie her hair until they are wet with the blood of Dushashan heart. She asked Bhim to bring the blood of Dushashana after killing him. Bhima obliged.

Dushashan dragging Draupadi in courtroom

 

Dushashana and Bhima

Jayadratha by Arjuna – Shri Krishna’s masterstroke

Jayadrath was Duryodhana’s brother in law. He was once insulted by Pandavas when he tried to abduct Draupadi. After severe penance, he obtained a boon from Lord Shiva. Due to this, he became the reason of Abhimanyu’s death. Arjuna vowed and killed him on the next day of the war. Of course, with help of Shri Krishna.

Jayadratha killed by Arjuna

 

Seven supreme sacrifices from Indian mythology

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Supreme sacrifices from Indian Mythology

We come across unparalleled sacrifices in Indian mythology. Here are seven of them which are the most remarkable.

The sacrifice of sage Dadhichi

Sage Dadhichi has done the ultimate sacrifice of giving his life so that Devas finally got an upper hand over asuras. Because of his sacrifice, Indra got his famous weapon Vajra. This weapon was made from the bones of sage Dadhichi.

Vajra – the weapon of Indra

Once, Vritrasur, a powerful demon, wanted to conquer heaven. He fought with the gods and swallowed all their weapons. The gods went for help to Lord Vishnu. He said , the weapon made of sage Dadhichi bones can kill Vritasur. As the sage is my devotee, he should not be killed. You will have to request him to die to give his bones. Gods, led by Indra, went to Dhadichi and begged for his bones.

Indra requesting Dadhi for his bones

Dadhichi was ready to sacrifice his, but he wanted to go on a pilgrimage before that. Hearing this, Indra brought all the holy places near him. After taking dips in the holy waters, Dhadichi gave up his life. Indra made a weapon called Vajra with his bones and killed Vritrasur. This same vajra was used on Hanuman by Indra.

Sacrifice of Bhishma

Devvrata, son of Ganga and Shantanu, pledged to remain bachelor all through his life. This was because Shantanu could marry Satyavati since her gather was sceptical that Satyavati’s sons would not get the ascendancy to the throne. Hearing this, Bhishma vowed that he will remain unmarried. Due to this, he is called Bhishma and his oath is called as Bhishma Pratigya.

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Bhishma taking oath for being unmarried – Bhishma Pratigya

Puru’s sacrifice for his father Yayati

Bhishma was not the only son who sacrificed for his father. Puru, son of Yayati, made a similar sacrifice by exchanging his youth with his fathers’ old age. As it happened that Yayati was cursed by Shukracharya to lose his youth. He later diluted the curse that Yayati could exchange his old age with someone’s youth.

Shukracharya curse to Yayati

Karna

Karna forgone the throne of Hastinapur when Kunti offered to him before the war of mahabharata. Karna also promised that Kunti will always have five sons. Due to his promise, he did not kill four pandavas, though he had a chance to do so. He also sacrificed his kavach and kundal to Indra.

Karna parting with kavach and kundal

The sacrifice of Abhimanyu

Abhimanyu, Arjuna’s son literally opened the flood gates for killing of Kauravas with not so desired methods. Abhimanyu was killed in after he was trapped in Chakravyuha formation when he was fighting alone with all the veterans in Kaurava’s army. Shri Krishna leveraged this fact in killing of Drona and other warriors.

Abhimanyu killed by Laxman (Duryodhan’s son) on thirteenth day of Mahabharata war.

The sacrifice of Barbari

Barbari, son of Ghatotkach, grand son of Bhima was mightier than both pandavas and kauravas alone. Shri Krishna asked him for his head before the war of Mahabharata. This was because, due to a vow taken by Barbari, there was a possibility that he would have destroyed all the warriors from both armies.

Barbari sacrificing his life as a true warrior to Shri Krishna in mahabharat

The sacrifice of Eklavya

Eklavya gave away the lone ambition of his life, to his teacher, Drona. This was probably the unparalleled sacrifice. A pupil, sacrificing everything to the teacher, who did not accept him as his pupil. What he gave? The right thumb, which is foremost important in archery.

The Seven Individuals Behind Karna’s Death in the Mahabharat Katha

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People behind death of Danveer Karna

Following seven incidents were the reason for demise of Karna. Though we remember him as Danveer Karna, but if we see the following incidents, we would realize that perhaps this was the reason of his not getting his due in Indian history.

1. Parshurama’s curse – Parshurama has cursed him so that he would not use the brahmastra weapon when he would need it most. So Karna would not be able to use this weapon at the most critical time. How would he expect to win the battle against Arjuna with this curse?

2. Brahmin’s curse – A Brahmin has cursed him that his wheels of chariot will be stuck in the ground. During Mahabharat war, when fighting with Arjuna, this thing happened. This caused him to step down from his chariot. Ramdhari Singh Dinkar has summarised this well in Rashmirathi.

“Jara si keech mein syandan phansa hai”

Above line and lines followed aptly describes the frustration. How a small mass of soft earth has held Karna’s chariot.

3. Indra’s manipulation – Confident of Karna’s charitable character, Indra approached him in the guise of a brahmin and asked for alms. Karna agreed to give him whatever he wanted. Indra asked for Kavach and Kundal to which Danveer Karna obliged. Ashamed of his activity Indra awarded him with Shakti. This weapon had the power to complete its task. The only caveat was that this could be used only once. Karna saved this for Arjuna. But Ghatotkacha, Bhima’s son, was creating havoc on Kaurava’s army. Upon the insistence of Duryodhana, karna has to use Shakti, thus saving Arjuna’s life.

4. Karna’s promise to Kunti – Kunti told Karna about his birth story before the Mahabharat war. She wanted him to fight the Mahabharat from Pandava’s side. Karna was the true friend of Duryodhana. He denied this request. Instead he gave a promise to Kunti. If there would be situation where I am able to kill any of the Pandavas, I would not do so except for Arjuna. In this way, Kunti will always have five sons.

Karna and Kunti
Karna and Kunti

5. Shalya’s reluctance towards Karna – Shalya, the charioteer of Karna never wanted to be on Kaurava’s side, but was forced to fight against Pandavas. He never supported Karna during the Mahabharat war. Imagine this, how it is difficult when your navigator is not your side. On the other side, Shri Krishna was there to guide Arjuna.

6. Shri Krishna asking Karna for his righteousness : All over his life, Karna followed the path of rihteousness. Despite all of the above reasons, Arjuna was not able to defeat him. Shri Krishna explained the reason to him. Goddess of Rigtheousness was protecting Karna. How to defeat him because weapons were turning into garlands. Shri Krishna went to him as a Brahmin and asked Karna to gift his rigtheousness. Karna again, readily agreed and obliged Arjuna charioteer. Pleased of this, Krishna shown him his vishwaroopa. Shri Krishna also granted him a boon. Because of this, he was cremated on Shri Krishna’s hand.

7. Arjuna killing when he was not on the chariot: On advise of Shri Krishna, against the rules of the war, Arjuna beheaded Karna with the weapon anjalika. This  happened when Karna was trying to take out the wheel of the chariot from the ground. This is how, the great archer, the great danveer, met his death.

Perhaps destiny has to do more here rather than the capability. unfortunately he was fighting the war from the wrong side. Nevertheless he has got the everlasting fame.

Weapons used in the time of Mahabharata – 2

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Mahabharata – Important weapons from Indian Mythology

Karna’s weapons

Karna had the knowledge of Brahmastra, but his teacher Parshurama has cursed him that he could not use it when he requires it most. He had kavach and kundal from Sun, which would made him invulnerable, but Indra asked those in alms.

Karna born with Kavach and Kundal

Karna born with Kavach and Kundal

But he had given him Vasavi Shakti or Amoghastra, which could be used only once, to him. Karna saved that for Arjuna,  but upon the insistence of Duryodhana, he had to use this on Ghatotkacha. Ghatotkacha was Bheema’s son, who was single handedly decimating the kaurava’s army. He was called by Shri Krishna to fight from his father’s side. Another master stroke from the seventh avatar of lord Vishnu.

Karna - Mahabharat

Karna – Mahabharat

Arjuna’s weapons

Arjuna seems to have the blessings of gods when it came to astras and shastras. You name the weapon and he had it. He has done severe penance to obtain divyastras for the battle of Mahabharat. Shiva has bestowed his blessings on Arjuna that his quivers will be inexhaustible. Shiva has also given him the Pashupata, which had the powers to destroy anything. Arjuna also had Yamaraj’s mace, Naagpashas from varuna and Antardhana from Kuber at his disposal. Indra also presented him a weapon before Mahabharat war.  Gandiva was also given to him Lord Shiva. These gods have armed Arjuna to fight the evil forces. Arjuna and Shri Krishna are also known  as Nara(Arjuna) and Narayana (Shri Krishna).

Lord Shiva giving astra and shastras to Arjuna

Lord Shiva giving weapons to Arjuna

Lord Shiva giving Pashupata astra to Arjuna - Mahabharat

Lord Shiva giving Pashupata astra to Arjuna – Mahabharat

Shri Krishna’s weapons

Shri Krishna’s bow was Sharngadhanu, with which he has once countered Shiva’s weapons. He also used Brahmastra to counter a Brahmastra invoked by Shiva. Shri Krishna also had Narayanastra with which he has counterd pashupatastra. When fighting Banasura and Lord Shiva, Shri Krishna used his weapon Narayanjvara to counter Shivajara. No discussion is complete on weapons of Shri Krishna, if we do not mention the Sudarshan Chakra. He used this in the war of Mahabharat for a different purpose – to make sun disappear. This led to killing of Jayadrath.

Another notable use of this Sudarshan Chakra was in killing of Shishupala, the king of Chedi, who was also a relative of Shri Krishna.

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Sudarshan Chakra – Vishnu – Dashavatar – Shri – Krishna’s weapon

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When Arjuna was killed (Mahabharat)

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Arjuna defeated and killed by another archer

Sounds surprising? This is true that Arjuna was killed by his own son before revived with the help of his wife.

When Yudhishthira was conducting ashwamedha yaga, Arjuna came to manipur. Babhruvahana, the son of Arjuna and Chitrangada was the ruler of this state.

There was a fight between Arjuna and Babruvahana and Babruvahana succeeded in killing him with an arrow.

Uloopi reviving Arjuna after Babhruvahana defeated and killed him

Repenting of his deed, he determined to kill himself, but he obtained from his stepmother, the Naga princess Uloopi, a gem which restored Arjuna to life.

He returned with his father to Hastinapura. This was on account of a curse by the Vasus, on account of Arjuna’s killing Bhishma (who is an incarnation of one of the Vasus) during the Mahabharat war. Babruvahana also killed Karna’s son Vrishaketu in the battle. Vrishaketu had accompanied Arjuna in the Ashwamedha Yagna and was consequently killed.

Vrishketu became very close to Pandavas following the death of Karna. Pandava knew that Karna was their elder brother.

Arjuna had a boon from Uloopi that no creature living in water can do any harm to him. With the help of this boon, he helped five crocodiles which were under a curse. Uloopi was the naga princess who abducted him and married him. This happened when he was on the tour of the country after breaking a rule. During this exile, he married Uloopi, Chitrangada and Subhadra.

Babruvahana was born with the alliance of Chitrangada.

Weapons used in the time of Mahabharat – 1

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Weapon used in Mahabharat

We are continuing on from the weapons used in the times of The Ramayana. Brahmastra has been mentioned quite frequently in ancient texts and Mahabharat is no exception here.

Brahmastra

As described in the sastra, a Brahmastra is an astra. This is created by Lord Brahma. It is sometimes known as the Brahma Astra (astra referring to ‘missile weapon’). As described in a number of the Puranas, Brahmastra is considered to be the very deadliest of weapons. When a Brahmastra is discharged, neither a counterattack nor a defense of any kind can stop it.  This weapon can only be neutralized by Brahmadanda (stick of Brahma).  Karna has the knowledge of this potent astra. Though he was not able to use this because of the curse of Parshurama. Vishwamitra used this against Vasistha. Vasistha neutralized this weapon and defeated Vishwamitra. The whole story is narrated here.

Vasishtha – Vishwamitra – Brahmastra – Indian – mythology – weapon

Brahmashira

There was another powerful weapon called Brahmashira.  Brahmashira was never used in war. It had four times more power than the Brahmastra, i.e fourth power square. This was because Brahma has four heads, thus the name. Only Arjuna and Ashwatthama possessed the knowledge to summon the Brahmashira. Arjuna has the knowledge to retract this, but Ashwatthama did not. After Ashwatthama killed uppandavas, a fight ensued between him and Arjuna. During the fight, Ashwatthama invoked the extremely powerful Brahmashira, against Arjuna.  Arjuna in response invoked the same astra. Fearing the destruction of the world, the sages advised both to take back their weapons. While Arjuna could do so, Ashwatthama (presumably having less skill) could not, and was given the option of choosing any single target to destroy. Out of spite, Ashwatthama directed the weapon to the wombs of Pandava women. Among them was Uttara, Arjuna’s daughter-in-law. Shri Krishna saved the unborn Parikshit, but cursed Ashwatthama for his cowardly act.

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Story of Barbari in mahabharat

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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.

Seven unknown facts from the Mahabharata (4)

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Mahabharata, the fifth veda

The epic Mahabharata contains so much of teaching that it is considered to be the fifth veda. Following are some interesting unpopular stories involving mahabharata characters Draupadi, Drona, Karna, Jarasandha, Arjuna and of course, Shri Krishna.

Why was Drona invincible in Mahabharata war?

Drona used a weapon called brahmadanda on fifteenth day of Mahabharata war for the first time in his life. Brahmadanda was Brahmarishi Vashistha’s best weapon and it contained the spiritual powers of the 7 greatest sages (Sapta Rishis). As Drona had not imparted knowledge of this secret weapon to either Arjuna or Ashwaththama, therefore no Pandava, Yadava or Panchala could handle Drona on the 15th day of battle. Therefore the Pandavas were forced to do cheating to kill Drona.

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Drona on fifteenth day of mahabharat war

 

People who saw Shri Krishna in Vishwaroopa form

According to legend, Hanuman is one of the four people to have heard the Bhagwad Gita from Krishna and seen the Vishvarupa form. Other three being Arjuna, Sanjaya and Barbarika. Barbarika was the son of Ghatotkacha. He had Shri Krishna’s boon so that he could watch the Mahabharata war. When Gita was recited, Hanuman was sitting on Arjuna’s chariot and Arjuna himself, the recipient of Bhagwad Gita. At the same time, Sanjaya was narrating the mahabharata war to Dhritrashtra. He saw the divine form of Shri Krishna

Krishna in Vishwaroopa
Krishna in Vishwaroopa

 

Karna killed by Anjalika weapon

Arjuna used the weapon anjalika to behead Karna. The chariot wheel remained stuck and the curse of Parashurama ensured that Karna could not recall the mantras necessary to unleash the more powerful weapons of mass destruction. Krishna reminds Arjuna of Karna’s ruthlessness against Abhimanyu when Abhimanyu was similarly left without a chariot or weapons. All of Arjuna’s tears, pain and anger swelled up within him as he aimed the fatal shaft Anjalika at a desperate Karna and beheaded him.

Karna killed by Arjuna with weapon anjalika
Karna killed by Arjuna with weapon anjalika

Draupadi remembered her last seven births

Draupadi, one of the panchkanya’s, alongwith Kunti could remember her past lives. In an earlier birth, she made Shiva happy and asked him to grant him a boon so that her husband has fourteen qualities. He said that it is not possible to have all qualities in one fellow. She insisted and her wish was fulfilled in form of Pandavas.

Read the whole story here.

Brahma’s boon to Hanumana

Brahma givena a boon to Hanuman: “Nobody will be able to kill you with any weapon in war.” This happened when Lord Vayu decided to let people suffer in absence of air after Indra hit him with Vajra astra while Hanuman was approaching to eat sun.

Shishupala was Hiranyakashyap and Ravana in his past lives

He was killed by Dashavataras of Lord Vishnu in past lives and thus fuelling hatred for Lord. During Rajya sooya yagya, he insulted Shri Krishna. He kept silent because he has promised that he will forgive Shishupala’s hundred sins. However, as soon as the count of hundred completed, Lord killed him with the Sudarshan chakra, his favourite weapon.

Shishupala killed by shri Krishna with sudarshan chakra in mahabharat

 

Fate of Five great warriors

It is said that Bheema, Duryodhana, Keechaka, Jarasandha and Hidimbasura were born in the same cosmic phase. The five great warriors Bakasura, Bheema, Keechaka, Jarasandha and Duryodhana are all born with their fate mingled with each other. As a result of that, the first amongst the five to kill the another,will eventually kill the other three. This secret was known to Krishna alone. This is why he ensured that Bheema kills bakasura on first available opportunity. Bheema ended up killing every other warrior in Mahabharata war.

Jarasandh Vadha - Bheema in Mahabharat
Jarasandh Vadha – Bheema in Mahabharat

Kichak was making undue advances towards Draupadi and killed by Bheem in the kingdom of Virat.

kichak-draupadi-mahabharat-indian-mythology-story
Kichak and Draupadi in Mahabharata

Suggested reading: [button url=”https://ritsin.com/seven-unknown-facts-about-mahabharat-indian-mythology-story.html/” ]Unknown facts – 1[/button]