Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Curses [in epic's] do not work

The point of this post is to prove that curses do not have the power to change an outcome, reality or to affect a characters life. That curses were just words uttered out of frustration but no curse actually works. I will focus on 4 curses and explain how exactly they each failed.

Example 1 is from the ramayana era
Kuber cursed Ravan;
[Start]
Vaisravana cursed him, saying "This chariot shall never carry thee; it shall bear him who will slay thee in battle! And as thou hast insulted me, thy elder brother, thou shalt soon die!"
[End]
He overcame/counters the curse:
"Reaching his brother's house and entering the inner apartment, Kumbhakarna saw his worried brother sitting in Pushpaka, a self-moving aerial car."

Ravan mastered pushpakha;
Quote 1: "Then you promptly emplane this sky-flying chariot which is yoked with ghost-faced mules and adorned with gems along with me." Quote 2: Tataka's son Maareecha said "All right" to Ravana, and then both Ravana and Maareecha mounted the chariot as they would emplane an aircraft and swiftly journeyed from the surroundings of Maareecha's hermitage
Logic - the curse failed as Ravan ended up riding this vimana either way. Yes it did carry his killer (Rama son of Dashrath) later, but Kuber said that it would NEVER carry Ravan, yet it still clearly did.
2nd incident.
This depends on if the Punjiksthala crime happened first or if the rape of Rambha happened before, either way the result is the same that a curse failed. Cause Ravan just went onto commit the same crime he was cursed for earlier.

Shree Ravana speaks with MahaParshva [begin] "From today onwards, if you revel with any other woman forcibly, your head then undoubtedly will break asunder into a hundred pieces. Fearing the curse given in this manner by Brahama, I am not violently making Sita the daughter of Videha, to mount on my beautiful bed forcibly." {enD}

What did hanutati observe?
Passage; "Hanuma best among Vanaras, tiger among Vanaras, moving about saw Rakshas women, those who were sleeping near to Ravana."
Logic - Most likely they were not his daughter's but if they are not spouses they would be his daughter's if they are spouses then that means either they gave him consent or he raped them cause the curse of Brahma did not work.

Secondary curse that ravan faces;
"Since, despite your lack of love for him, he ravished you thus brutally, O Blessed One, on this account he will never be able to approach another youthful woman unless she shares his love; if, carried away by lust, he does violence to any woman who does not love him, his head will split into seven pieces."
How my point has been proven?
Answer - the curse of rambha's mate (nalkuver) proves my point because both of them negate the other, if brahma cursed ravan (due to rape of punjiksthala) that means the curse of nalkuver failed cause ravan rapes punjiksthala right afterwards. If the ramba incident happened after punjiksthala then again my point is proven cause that shows the curse of brahma failed to protect Rambha or harm Ravan.

Only way the curses could make sense is if nalkuvera's curse was only if Ravan targeted younger woman, so possibly punjiksthala was a elderly female. Other than that i dont see anyway it could make sense or my claims could be proven wrong.
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Example 3 - Gautam's curse on Indra fails it was during the pre ramayana era.
[Quote]
The well-behaved Gautama furiously spoke these words on seeing the ill-behaved Thousand-eyed Indra who is donning the guise of a saint "Oh, dirty-minded Indra, taking hold of my form you have effectuated this unacceptable deed, whereby you shall become infecund." Thus, Gautama cursed Indra. When that great-souled sage Gautama spoke that way with rancour, the testicles of the cursed Thousand-eyed Indra fell down onto ground at that very moment.
Logic: the word 'infecund' means sterile, basically unable to impregnate a woman, yet Indra was the biological father of arjuna & vali. I assume the curse happened after the birth of Jayanta (his other son) but clearly indra had at minimum three sons together.

Indra became a daddy again; "Kunti, thus addressed by her lord, invoked Sakra (the king of the gods) who thereupon came unto her and begat him that was afterwards called Arjuna. And as soon as this child was born, an incorporeal voice, loud and deep as that of the clouds and."
Logic - obviously gautams curse failed.
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Example four.
Background - Its well known that fans of chutiya karna try to bring up parshuram's curse as an excuse for why fudhu karna failed in one battle in his life.
Quote for the curse;
"Since thou art not a Brahmana, truly this Brahma weapon shall not, up to the time of thy death, dwell in thee when thou shalt be engaged with a warrior equal to thyself!" http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12a003.htm
Evidence that it failed:
"Steadying himself by a powerful effort he invoked the brahmastra." https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m08/m08090.htm
"Karna, invoking the brahmastra, showered his shafts upon Dhananjaya and once more made an effort to extricate his chariot" https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m08/m08091.htm
Logic - this clearly supports my theory/claim that curses dont actually work they never become true.
Hopefully most people that read this get it now that curses fail more often than not. I agree their are rare cases where curses could work but most of the time they failed.

Saturday, March 29, 2025

Mace fighters of Mahabharat

This post shall detail all the mace fighters of the mahabharata except for Sahadeva/Sakuni, their is a incident where sakuni used the mace against Sahadeva on day 11, but clearly sakuni was not among the top ten. Drona trained many mace fighters even though he has the club of parshuram himself drona did not use it instead all he does is use a normal mace in day 14.
I shall also discuss the duryodhana vs bhima fight, a long time ago i made an elaborate post on it - https://logicastra.blogspot.com/2019/01/duryodhana-vs-bhima-analysis.html
But i did not discuss the five other points i desire to bring up regarding that fight and who was better than who. I also ignorantly considered bori ce to be a authentic source. I will not include balram cause i do not view him as a good warrior by anymeans.
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The variety of technique's it was used for:
[begins]
"The monarch was endued with wonderful prowess and a physical frame hard as the thunderbolt, so that he could, taking up the mountain Mandara with its forests and bushes, support it on his arms. And he was well-skilled in four kinds of encounters with the mace (hurling it at foes at a distance, striking at those that are near, whirling it in the midst of many, and driving the foe before)."
[end]
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Chekitan:
"The foremost of all wielders of the mace, Chekitana, with that hero-slaying mace of his, slew the steeds of Gautama and then felled his charioteer. Then Gautama, standing on the ground, shot sixteen arrows at Chekitana. Those arrows, piercing through that hero of the Satwata race, entered the earth. Thereat, Chekitana excited with rage, once more hurled his mace, desirous of slaying Gautama, like Purandara desirous of slaying Vritra. Then Gautama with many thousands of arrows checked that huge mace, endued with the strength of adamant, that was coursing towards him."
Logic - its impressive that he mustered the willpower to throw a mace at kripa despite having 16 arrows cut right over the skin of his chest. Especially when overrated hanuman was beaten down by just 10 arrows in yuddh kanda by meghanada.

Citra (kaurav warrior)
Quote; "Beholding that dart baffled, Citra, taking up a huge mace decked with a net-work of gold, hurled it at Prativindhya. That mace slew the latter's steeds and driver also in that great battle, and crushing, besides, his car, fell with great impetuosity on the Earth."
Logic - this citra character was not a son of dhritrashtra, but he was an ally of the kauravas.

Dresthadyumna's achievements.
He killed Karna’s horses with a mace; 'Then the valiant Dhrishtadyumna, deprived of car, steeds, and driver, quickly jumped down from his car and took up a mace. Though struck all the while with straight shafts by Karna, the Panchala prince, approaching Karna, slew the four steeds of the latter.'
He killed the elephant of Salwa (Mleccha king) on the 18th day; "The brave Pancala king then, taking up his mace which resembled the lofty crest of a mountain, appeared there. Fearlessly, O king, that hero, that smiter of foes, rushed with speed against the elephant. Endued with great activity, the prince of the Pancalas approached and began to strike with his mace that animal which was huge as a hill and which shed its secretions like a mighty mass of pouring clouds. Its frontal globes suddenly split open, and it uttered a loud cry; and vomiting a profuse quantity of blood, the animal, huge as a hill, suddenly fell down, even as a mountain falling down during an earthquake.
Conclusion: This may not be adequate to give him elite status but he still achieved more than karna did with a mace.
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The incidents where fudhu karna uses a mace in his gandu zindagi.
14th day; "Karna alighted from his car and taking up a mace in that battle wrathfully hurled it at Bhima. Beholding that mace, O king, impetuously coursing towards him, Vrikodara resisted it with his arrows in the sight of all thy troops."
15th day
[begin]
"Then the valiant son of Radha, taking up a mace, hurled it at Bhima's car. Bhima, however, broke it with the mace of his own."
Besides this their was no incident where he used one.

Overall the only thing Karna knows how to do with a mace is toss it like it's a spear or dart or basket ball, he never demonstrated the ability of using it in a two handed manner or in a close distance fight in close quarters.
Satyaki took up a club for ending the zindagi of Drestadyumna
[quotE]
With rage his eyes assumed the hue of copper. Keeping his bow then upon his car, he grasped his mace, sighing like a Snake. Rushing, then, towards the prince of the Panchalas, he said unto him in great wrath "I will not speak harshly to thee, but I will slay thee, deserving as thou art of slaughter." Seeing the mighty Satyaki rushing, from wrath and desire of revenge, at the Panchala prince, like Yama against one like his own self, the mighty Bhima, urged by Vasudeva, quickly jumped down from his car and seized him with his arms.
[End]
Logic - he would not own a mace if he did not have skill in its usage.

Compared to the incident where Karna tried to use a mace on Shalya;
"If, O ruler of the Madras, thou speakest such words again, I shall then crush thy head with my mace that is as hard as the thunder."
Comment - but here he did not rush toward shalya or get on his feet for walking closer to attack him so its not the same as Satyaki's action. Also satyaki was a more consistent fighter compared to karna so karna is inferior as a gada dhaari compared to satyaki. Another important fact is that karna's threat was baseless cause his threat clearly was not a honest threat, instead when shalya spoke words again all karna did was engage in a verbal conversation.
He believed words are more fatal than weapons, unlike satyaki who believed actions speak louder than words.

Satyaki's attempt:
[start] "The mighty car-warrior Satyaki, excited with wrath, laid aside that, taking up a huge mace, hurled it at the son of Bharadwaja. Drona, however, with many arrows of diverse forms, resisted that mace, made of iron and twined round with strings, as it coursed impetuously towards him."
Skill's of Jarasandha.
Jarasandha could hurl objects across the distance of 99 yojanas: "At that time Krishna of wonderful deeds was residing at Mathura. The handsome mace hurled by Jarasandha fell near Mathura at a distance of ninety-nine yojanas from Gririvraja The citizens beholding the circumstance well, went unto Krishna and informed him of the fall of the mace. The place where the mace fell is adjacent to Mathura and is called Gadavasan."
Logic; if jarasandha had existed in the ramayan era then nobody would rely on hanuman to cross the ocean that leads to lanka, instead jarasandha could throw a vanara to lanka easily.

Its even implied that if their was a mace fight between them than Jarasandha would've dominated/beaten Vrikodar Bhima.
Quote;
"Deprived of his mace in that great battle, Jarasandha was afterwards slain by Bhimasena in thy presence, O Dhananjaya. If the valiant Jarasandha had stood armed with his mace, the very gods with Indra at their head could not have slain him in battle."
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Arjuna's club combat skills:
[quote]
"And the mighty Drona also instructed Arjuna in fighting with the mace, the sword, the lance, the spear, and the dart." https://sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01135.htm
[quote]
"Arjuna showed his profound skill in the use of sword, bow, and mace, walking over the lists in circles." https://sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01138.htm
He also had heavy maces in his chariot. So it makes sense for him to have a basic understanding of their usage.

Guru Drona's mace dueling ability:
[quote]
"And the mighty Drona also instructed Arjuna in fighting with the mace, the sword, the lance, the spear, and the dart."
Logic - He was clearly the man who trains Bhima, Duryodhan, Satyaki etc, so whatever achievement Bhima had (before getting training from Balram) could in theory be credited to Drona as well, possibly drona could also kill segments of the panchal army by using a mace.

Day 14;
"Drona, that grinder of Kshatriyas, throwing aside that broken bow, hurled with great force, O sire, a mace at the son of Dharma. Beholding that mace impetuously coursing towards him, Yudhishthira, O chastiser of foes, filled with rage, took up a mace."
"Then those two maces, both hurled with great force, encountering each other in mid-air, produced by their collision sparks of fire and then fell down on the earth."
Comment: This's the only time a warrior who is in the category of seniors/elders dared to toss a mace or club, drona never tries to do it before or after this moment. The other senior characters (Vahika, Bhishma, Somadatta) have never tried to toss a mace, they were all above Shalya in age.
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Abhimanyu the boss of mace wielders.

At the sight of Abhimanyu armed with a mace in his hands Aswathamman ran away;
"Beholding that mace upraised, which looked like the blazing thunderbolt, Aswatthaman, that tiger among men, rapidly alighted from his car and took three (long) leaps (for avoiding Abhimanyu). Killed Aswathamman's horses and charioteers."
Quote; 'Slaying Aswatthaman's steeds and two Parshni charioteers with that mace of his, Subhadra's son, pierced all over with arrows, looked like a porcupine.'

Knocked out the son of Dussasana: "Proceeding next towards the car of Duhsasana's son, he crushed the latter's car and steeds, pressing them down into the earth."
"Struck with the other's mace-ends fell down on the earth, like two uprooted standards erected to the honour of Indra."
Quote; Then that hero pressed Suvala's son, Kalikeya, down into the earth, and slew seven and seventy Gandhara followers of the latter.
Logic - Killed 77 Gandhara warriors and pressed down Kalikeya (brother of Sakuni as both are sons of Suvala)

Quote - Next, he slew ten car-warriors of the Brahma-Vasatiya race, and then ten huge elephants.
Logic; Slayed 10 Rathas & ten more Elephants.
Accolades dedicated to Abhimanyu;
Quote:
All those noble qualities that are in Krishna, all those that are in the Pandavas, all that assemblage of qualities was to be found in Abhimanyu alone. In firmness, he was equal to Yudhishthira, and in conduct to Krishna; in feats, he was the equal to Bhimasena of terrible deeds, in beauty of person, in prowess, and in knowledge of scriptures he was the equal to Dhananjaya. In humility, he was equal to Sahadeva and Nakula.
[End]
Logic: He had the qualities of all Pandavas and Krishna so it's possible he was equal to Bhima.

Got the bow of bhadwa Balram:
"That excellent and best of bows, called the Raudra, which Rohini's son (Valadeva) had obtained, the latter gave unto the high-souled son of Subhadra, having been gratified with him." http://sacred-texts.com/hin/m07/m07023.htm
Comment - possibly he might have defeated the clown balraam in a mace fight.

Overall he had more achievements than dresthadyumna, karna & even satyaki when it comes to mace combat.
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Susharma's skill with a mace - his power is underrated, he was 1 of the best mace duelists in MB.
Arjuna praised Susharma but never hanuman.
Quote:
The son of Kunti then, having come up to those kings that were protecting Bhishma, (first) addressed Susarman, O king, and said these words, 'I know thee to be foremost in battle, and a dire enemy (of ours) of old. Behold to-day the terrible fruit of that evil behaviour (of thine). I will today cause thee to visit the manes of thy ancestors.' That leader of car-divisions, Susarman, however, hearing these harsh words uttered by that slayer of foes Vibhatsu, told him nothing (in reply).
With just the help of 1 brother Susharma vanquished the full army of king Virat;
[Passage]
"Trigarta's lord, Susarman with his younger brother, and accompanied by all his cars, rushed towards the king of Matsya. And descending from their cars, those bulls among Kshatriyas, the (royal) brothers, mace in hand, rushed furiously towards the cars of the foe. And the hostile hosts fiercely assailed each other with maces and swords and scimitars, battle-axes and bearded darts with keen edges and points of excellent temper."
"And king Susarman, the lord of the Trigartas having by his energy oppressed and defeated the whole army of the Matsyas, impetuously rushed towards Virata himself endued with great energy. And the two brothers having severally slain Virata's two steeds and his charioteer, as also those soldiers that protected his rear, took him captive alive, when deprived of his car."
"Then afflicting him sorely, like a lustful man afflicting a defenceless damsel, Susarman placed Virata on his own car, and speedily rushed out of the field. And when the powerful Virata, deprived of his car, was taken captive, the Matsyas, harrassed solely by the Trigartas, began to flee in fear in all directions."
Size of his victims army; Elephants mounted by trained warriors skilled in fight, followed the king like unto moving hills. And the principal warriors of Matsya who cheerfully followed the king had eight thousand cars, a thousand elephants and sixty thousand horses. https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m04/m04031.htm
Total is 67 thousand not even Bhima ever did that.

Yudhisther's only mace fighting incident.
[begin]
"Beholding that mace impetuously coursing towards him, Yudhishthira, O chastiser of foes, filled with rage, took up a mace. Then those two maces, both hurled with great force, encountering each other in mid-air, produced by their collision sparks of fire and then fell down on the earth." https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m07/m07102.htm
Logic - since yudisther also granted suyodhan the option of picking his opponent in a mace fight i think its fair to claim that yudisther had at least above average skill in mace fighting. Though its also correct he was inferior to duryodhan, bhima, shalya etc.
Bhima vs Duryodhana.
In the rangbhoomi their was not a single fight between duryodhan and bheem, as they approached eachother it was shown they hated eachothers guts so before they could touch eachother Ashwathama restrained them both.
[Quote]
"Vrikodara and Suyodhana, internally delighted (at the prospect of fight), entered the arena, mace in hand, like two single-peaked mountains. And those mighty-armed warriors braced their loins, and summoning all their energy, roared like two infuriate elephants contending for a cow-elephant; and like two infuriated elephants those mighty heroes faultlessly (in consonance with the dictates of the science of arm) careered right and left, circling the lists. And Vidura described to Dhritarashtra and the mother of the Pandavas (Kunti) and Gandhari, all the feats of the princes."
Quote; Upon the Kuru king and Bhima, the foremost of all endued with strength, having entered the arena, the spectators were divided into two parties in consequence of the partiality swaying their affections. Some cried, 'Behold the heroic king of the Kurus!' some 'Behold Bhima!' And on account of these cries, there was, all on a sudden, a loud uproar.
And seeing the place become like a troubled ocean, the intelligent Bharadwaja said unto his dear son, Aswatthaman, 'Restrain both these mighty warriors so proficient in arms. Let not the ire of the assembly be provoked by this combat of Bhima and Duryodhana.' Vaisampayana continued, 'Then the son of the preceptor of the princes restrained those combatants with their maces uplifted and resembling two swollen oceans agitated by the winds that blow at the universal dissolution. And Drona himself entering the yard of the arena commanded the musicians to stop.

Key points ignored about the mace fight on day eighteen in Kurukshetra;
1 - Bheem had more difficulties than Duryodhan, his mace weighed 50 percent more. For example if duryodhans mace was 10 pounds then Bheems was 15 pounds it is much harder to swing that around, every move is taxing on your hands, muscles & causes a strain on your body. Wielding this type of object as a weapon is extremely difficult, so Bheem did not have the same comfort & speed that Duryodhan did it was due to a disadvantage of equipment.
2 - In the earlier portions of the day both characters (duryodhan and bheem) had archery battles though bheem had many more than duryodhan. Bheem suffered numberless wounds by the arrows of Shalya mostly, a few by Sakuni's bow, the kaurava princes that were still alive had hit bhima with arrows too and so did mlecch raaj Salwa. Duryodhan did not have to deal with such injuries and issues prior to the mace battle. Hundreds of arrows touched the body of bhima that day not duryodhana's body.
If duryodhan had suffered a single relevant injury then it was healed due to his action of immersing himself within the lake, which cooled, nourished & refreshed his body.
Logic - cold water helps decrease pain and make your body more alert.
Conclusion - Basically Duryodhan even if injured was more fresh than Bheem, he had not depleted much of his strength.

3 - Bhima had a mace battle with Shalya that caused not just shalya but even bhima to get unconscious, that takes a big toll on your body, brain & mind. Duryodhan did not go through this but Bhima did. All duryodhana did in the morning was kill Chekitana which is not comparable to killing a dozen or more kaurava princes or fighting with a warrior of Shalya's caliber (two actions done by Bhima that morning) so its obvious who was more active and who would be more drained.

4 - If Duryodhan truly had better skills with the mace then it does not make sense that Duryodhan would let so many of his brothers, friends, allies & commanders die in front of his eyes. He never thought of challenging anyone to a mace fight even after Jayadrathas death (a incident which made him really angry). He has never gone on foot leading an infantry like Bhima did, not even in battles before kurukshetra. According to Mahabharat bhima went down from his chariot & used a club to slaughter many elephants but Duryodhan failed to ever do the same.
5 - When Maitreya cursed Suyodhana, no member of Hastinapurs court mentioned that striking below the belt is a crime, a sin, a part of unethical warfare. Their was no big uproar, huge outburst made, no one claims that striking below the waist/belt is adharma or illegal when Bheem made his vow of breaking Duryodhan's thighs either. So this makes the incident suspicious, possibly it being considered a unfair move was a interpolation.
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1 of his most recent conflicts:
"The mighty Bhima, with his mace, crushed those 21,000 foot-soldiers who were without cars and steeds and elephants."
Logic - that was from the 18th day after shalya vadh, think how strained bhima would have been before fighting suyodhana.
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Other times where Bheem uses a mace (excluding his encounters with Duryodhan/Shalya).
Kaling Kumar's death:
"Bhimasena, staying on his car whose steeds had been slain, hurled at Sakradeva a mace made of the hardest iron. And slain by that mace, O king, the son of the ruler of the Kalingas, from his car, fell down on the ground, with his standard and charioteer. Then that mighty car-warrior, the king of the Kalingas beholding his own son slain, surrounded Bhima on all sides with many thousands of cars."
[End]
Killed over 2,700 opponents;
"That mighty warrior then took up his mace and jumped down (from his car) with great speed. 1 And Bhima then despatched seven hundred heroes to Yama's abode. And that grinder of foes despatched, in addition, two thousand Kalingas to the region of death. And that feat seemed highly wonderful. And it was thus that the heroic Bhima of terrible prowess repeatedly felled in battle large bands of the Kalingas. And elephants deprived by Pandu's son, in that battle, of their riders, and afflicted with arrows wandered on the field, treading down their own ranks and uttering loud roars like masses of clouds driven by the wind."

Day 14
{Quote}
"Bhima, with eyes red in wrath, hurled without a moment's reflection, at the Suta's son, a heavy six-sided mace, adorned with gold measuring full four cubits in length, and resembling the bolt of Indra in force. Indeed, like Indra slaying the Asuras with his thunderbolt, that hero of Bharata's race, excited with wrath, slew with that mace the well-trained steeds of the foremost breed, of Adhiratha's son."

15th day;
"So near were they that they could not easily shoot their shafts at each other. Thereupon, an encounter with maces happened. Bhimasena speedily broke with his mace the Kuvara of Karna's car. That feat of his, O king, seemed highly wonderful."
Day 15: "The valiant son of Radha, taking up a mace, hurled it at Bhima's car. Bhima, however, broke it with the mace of his own."
"Bhima, filled with rage, took up a mace and crushed the bow, standard, and driver of his antagonist in that encounter. The mighty Bhima also broke one of the wheels of Karna's car."
17th day;
"The mighty-armed Bhima of great strength, taking up a terrible parigha, twined round with hempen cords and decked with gold and resembling a second bludgeon of Death himself, and desiring to slay Karna outright, hurled it at him with a loud roar. Karna, however, with a number of arrows resembling snakes of virulent poison, cut off into many fragments that spiked mace as it coursed towards him."

Slaughtering pancala units:
"Bhima, mace in hand, first rushed towards the array of elephants in the hostile force, while Arjuna, proficient in battle, assailed that force with the prowess of his arms. And Bhima, like the great Destroyer himself, began to slay those elephants with his mace. Those huge animals, like unto mountains, struck with Bhima's mace, had their heads broken into pieces."
"Covered with stream of blood, they began to fall upon the ground like cliffs loosened by thunder. And the Pandavas prostrated on the ground elephants and horses and cars by thousands and slew many foot-soldiers and many car-warriors. Indeed, as a herdsman in the woods driveth before him with his staff countless cattle with ease, so did Vrikodara drive before him the chariots and elephants of the hostile force."
Though bheem is not the best fighter he was at least more active than duryodhan he used the mace much more often than he did.
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Accolades (related to bheems character).
Balarama's opinion; "There is not throughout the whole world a single soul who can boast of strength and prowess equal to his. And his body, alas! is emaciated with cold, and heat and winds. But when he will stand up for fight, he will not leave a single man out of his foes."
Bhishma's opinion;
'In an encounter with the mace or even with arrows, there is none equal to him. Endued with the strength of ten thousand elephants, and filled with pride, in energy he is superhuman.'

Conclusion: i do not respect or value the opinions of either of those 2 characters (bhishma/balram) but i know very well that those two are overrated by their fanclubs, so their opinions have been used in this post for supporting my claims of duryodhan being inferior to bhima.
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Shalya was a better club-fighter than Duryodhan:
I believe considering all things the performance of Shalya was better. He is more skilled, experienced, versatile and powerful as a mace fighter and complete warrior (skilled in all weapons) than Duryodhan. Bheem had 2 mace fights with Shalya & a wrestling encounter (swayamvara parva), but Duryodhan only had 1 mace battle against Bheem.
Even if duryodhan had better skill than Bhima he clearly was inferior when it came to intelligence. I would rate him as inferior to Shalya & Bhima both.
Despite being past his own physical prime and not having any divine background (no genetics of a devta) a pure human like Shalya is able to hold his own against a fresh Bheem & capably match him in a mace duel. Imagine how capable a prime Shalya would have been when he's younger and possesses better stamina/endurance?
Such is not the case with ganga's son Bhishma, he had a divine background and genetics of a devta, he also had semen retention, Shalya did not have such advantages, so you cant say bhishma was past his prime.
The past prime argument only works for characters like Vahika, Drupada, Somadatta & Shalya.
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The top 9 mace warrior's (in no particular order) are Drona, Arjuna, Jarasandha, Bhima, Shalya, Duryodhan, Abhimanyu, Dresthadyumna. Susharma.
The tenth place spot can be given to both Chekitan & the son of Duhsasana. Cause karna is overrated & never had a mace duel while satyaki does not have enough achievements to reach the list this time.

Friday, February 28, 2025

Sword fighter's of thEpic.

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Claim - In my opinion the best sword fighter of that era was Dresthadyumna, not Nakula. But for the criteria of what needs to be considered a achievement (for swordsmanship & what shouldnt) my belief is that hurling, tossing or throwing a blade does not qualify as an achievement of swordsmanship. Since i already discussed the achievements and sword skills of Dresthadyumna in this post i will ignore his character for this post cause the objective is to focus on highlighting other swordsmen of Mahabharat instead of him.
If any reader is interested in Dresthadyumna's talent here's a link:
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Post begin's now.

Who the other swordsmen of Mahabharat were.
Jayadrath - Apart from his battle with abhimanyu on day 11 theirs no incident where Jayadratha used a blade at all.
Quote;
"The lances and axes and scimitars (hurled by his foes) Arjuna's son cut off by means of his sword or warded off by his shield. Thus showing unto all the warriors the strength of his own arms the mighty Abhimanyu, once more upraising his large and heavy sword as also his shield, proceeded towards Vriddhakshatra's son who was a sworn foe of his (Abhimanyu's) father, like a tiger proceeding against an elephant. Approaching they cheerfully attacked each other with their swords like a tiger and a lion with their claws and teeth. And none could notice any difference between those two lions among men as regards the whirl-strokes, and descent of their swords and shields. And as regards the descent and the whiz of their swords, and the warding off of each other's blows, it seemed there was no distinction between the two. Coursing, beautifully in outward and inward tracks, those two illustrious warriors seemed to be like two winged mountains."
"Then Jayadratha struck on the shield of the renowned Abhimanyu when the latter stretched his sword for making a pass at him. Then, O Bharata, Jayadratha's large sword sticking into Abhimanyu's shield covered with golden plate, broke, as the ruler of the Sindhus attempted to draw it off forcibly. Seeing his sword broken, Jayadratha hastily retreated six steps and was seen within a twinkle of the eye to be mounted on his own car. Then Arjuna's son also, that combat with the sword being over, ascended his own excellent car. Many kings, then, of the Kuru army, uniting together, surrounded him on all sides. The mighty son of Arjuna, however, eyeing Jayadratha, whirled his sword and shield, and uttered a loud shout. Having vanquished the ruler of the Sindhus, Subhadra's son, that slayer of hostile heroes, then began to scorch that division of the Kaurava army like Sun scorching the world."
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Sutasoma.
16th day:
"Sutasoma then, uplifting a scimitar of the hue of the blue lotus and equipped with an ivory handle, uttered a loud shout. That scimitar of the intelligent Sutasoma of the hue of the clear sky, as it was whirled by that hero, was regarded by Shakuni to be as fatal as the rod of Death. Armed with that scimitar he suddenly began to career in circles over the arena, displaying, O monarch, the fourteen different kinds of manoeuvres, endued as he was with skill and might. Indeed, he displayed in that battle all those motions such as wheeling about and whirling on high, and making side-thrusts and jumping forward and leaping on high and running above and rushing forward and rushing upwards. The valiant son of Subala then sped a number of arrows at his foe, but the latter quickly cut them off with that excellent scimitar of his as they coursed towards him. Filled with rage (at this), the son of Subala, O king, once more sped at Sutasoma a number of shafts that resembled snakes of virulent poison. Aided by his skill and might, Sutasoma cut off even these with his scimitar, displaying his great activity, and possessed as he was of prowess equal to that of Garuda himself."
"With a razor-headed arrow of great sharpness, Shakuni then, O king, cut off that bright scimitar of his adversary as the latter careered in circles before him. Thus cut off, (half of) that large scimitar suddenly fell down on the Earth, while half of it, O Bharata, continued in the grasp of Sutasoma. Seeing his sword cut off, the mighty car-warrior Sutasoma retreated six steps and then hurled that half (of the scimitar) which he had in his grasp at his foe. The fragment decked with gold and gems, cutting off the bow, with string, of the illustrious Shakuni, quickly fell down on the Earth. Then Sutasoma went to the great car of Srutakirti."
Logic - its clearly been written that he displayed 14 techniques, the man had variety. It is interesting to note that his blade was basically blue in color. But he showed his talent by using a sword in a defencive manner as if it were a shield instead. Unfortunately if i were to create a top ten list sutasoma would not be higher than 10 or 9 due to him not having any achievement besides this one.
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Abhimanyu - besides his day 11 duel, their were sword feats he had on day 13 itself.
Passage;
"Bowless and carless, with an eye, however, to his duty (as a warrior), handsome Abhimanyu, taking up a sword and a shield, jumped into the sky. Displaying great strength and great activity, and describing the tracks called Kausika and others, the son of Arjuna fiercely coursed through the sky, like the prince of winged creatures (viz., Garuda.) 'He may fall upon me sword in hand' with such thoughts, those mighty bowmen, were on the lookout for the laches of Abhimanyu, and began to pierce him in that battle, with their gaze turned upwards. Then Drona of mighty energy, that conqueror of foes with a sharp arrow quickly cut off the hilt, decked with gems, of Abhimanyu's sword."
Logic - despite carrying a shield with himself abhi could not prevent drona's arrow from touching the handle of his blade. A argument can be formed in his defence that abhimanyu had to focus on multiple warriors at once which is why he could not pay attention enough to use his shield to protect his blade when the shields main purpose is to defend his body. Very few characters ever used a shield to protect their bow, sword, blade or other weapon.
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Jarasandha, the reason he made the list/cut is cause he 86 battles, most likely he used the sword more often in his life/career than karna or bhishma had.
Him actually using a sword:
"At last when their arrows were exhausted and bows and swords were broken and they both became carless, they began, possessed of might as they were, to fight with bare arms."
Note - their sword encounter was not elaborated upon by the author/narrator (narada) here.

List of battles in his military career.
"A Kshatriya that dieth in battle is ever regarded with respect. Why shall we not, therefore, meet together and oppose Jarsandha in battle? He hath already brought eighty-six kings fourteen only are wanting to complete one hundred."
If i used puranic lore then Jarasandha conquered between 20,800 to 28 thousand kings, which is not believable or logical. Jarasandha still deserves a rank among the top ten swordsmen, i would put him above Sutasoma.

Bheem the swordfighter.
12th day; 'Bhima jumping down from his own car, like a second Garuda, slew with his excellent sword five and ten combatants amongst those that supported Karna.'
Day 17: "Drawing then his whetted sword of keen edge, and trembling with rage, he placed his foot upon the throat of Duhshasana, and ripping open the breast of his enemy stretched on the ground, quaffed his warm life-blood. Then throwing him down and cutting off, O king, with that sword the head of thy son, Bhima of great intelligence, desirous of accomplishing his vow, again quaffed his enemy's blood little by little, as if for enjoying its taste."
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Sreekandhee.
Day 7.
{Quote}
"Sikhandin, that scorcher of foes, jumping down from that car whose steeds had been slain, and taking up a sharp and polished scimitar and a shield, excited with rage, moved on the field with great activity like a hawk. And while moving with great activity, O king, on the field sword in hand, the son of Drona failed to find an opportunity (for striking him). And all this seemed highly wonderful. And then, O bull of Bharata's race, the highly wrathful son of Drona sent after Sikhandin in that battle many thousands of shafts. But Sikhandin, that foremost of mighty men, with his sharp sword cut that fierce shower of arrows coming towards him."
"Then the son of Drona cut into pieces that resplendent and beautiful shield decked with a hundred moons and then that sword also of Sikhandin. And he pierced the latter's person also, O king, with a large number of winged arrows. Then Sikhandin, whirling the fragment (in his hand) of that sword of his which had been cut off by Aswatthaman with his arrows and which resembled a blazing snake, quickly hurled it at him. The son of Drona however, displaying in that battle the lightness of his arms, cut off that (broken blade) coming impetuously towards him and resembling in splendour the fire that blazeth forth at the end of the Yuga. And he pierced Sikhandin himself with innumerable arrows made of iron."
Point; cutting off 1 thousand arrows thrown at you by using a sword is a good achievement. Especially when in yuddh kanda the overrated hanumana failed to deflect just 10 arrows fired at him.
Drona;
Based on the simple fact that he taught four of the best swordsmen (5 if bhima is included 6 if arjuna is in the list) its fair to assume that he knew multiple sword techniques.

Had the asi-blade of brahma - https://sacred-texts.com/hin/m12/m12a165.htm

Quote;
"Drona began to teach Arjuna the art of fighting on horse-back, on the back of elephants, on car, and on the ground. And the mighty Drona also instructed Arjuna in fighting with the mace, the sword, the lance, the spear, and the dart. And he also instructed him in using many weapons and fighting with many men at the same time."
Passage 'The twins excelled everybody in handling the sword.'

His other students: And having repeatedly displayed their skill and dexterity in the use of bows and arrows and in the management of cars, the mighty warriors took up their swords and bucklers, and began to range the lists, playing their weapons. The spectators saw (with wonder) their agility, the symmetry of their bodies, their grace, their calmness, the firmness of their grasp and their deftness in the use of sword and buckler.

Quote for 12th day: "Somadatta's son, for enhancing the glory of Drona, resisted king Manimat of great activity as the latter came to fight."
Logic - cause it said 'for enhancing the glory of Drona' that indicates a possibility of Drona being the teacher of Bhurishravas too.
Kripacharya;
He also had an asi-blade.

Had a actual sword-fight with chekitana.
"Chekitana, O Bharata, drawing his sabre from the sheath, rushed with great speed towards Gautama. Thereupon Gautama also, throwing away his bow, and taking up a polished sabre, rushed with great speed towards Chekitana. Both of them possessed of great strength, and both armed with excellent sabres, began to strike each other with those sharp-edged weapons of theirs."
"Then those bulls among men, struck with the force of each other's sabres, fell down on the earth, that (common) element of all creatures. Exhausted by the efforts they had made, the limbs of both were motionless in a swoon. Then Karakarsha impelled by friendship, quickly rushed to that spot."
"And that invincible warrior, beholding Chekitana in that plight, took him up on his car in the very sight of all troops. And so also the brave Sakuni, thy brother-in-law, O monarch, speedily caused Gautama, that foremost of car-warriors, to mount on his car."

Its my firm belief that here in this particular battle he did not use his divine blade (ASI). Still since Kripa was worthy enough to wield a divine blade while Chekitan was not its fair to claim that Kripa is the superior swordsman.
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Satyaki.
On day 16 & day 14 (battle with bhurishrava) he used a sword.

Quote I;
"Each slaying the other's steeds and cutting off the other's bow, those car-less combatants encountered each other with swords in a dreadful fight. Taking up two beautiful and large and bright shields made of bull's hide, and two naked swords, they careered on the field. Stalking in circles and in diverse other kinds of courses duly, those grinders of foes excited with rage, frequently struck each other. Armed with swords, clad in bright armour, decked with cuirass and Angadas, those two famous warriors showed diverse kinds of motion. They wheeled about on high and made side-thrusts, and ran about, and rushed forward and rushed upwards. And those chastisers of foes began to strike each other with their swords. And each of them looked eagerly for the dereliction of the other. And both of those heroes leapt beautifully and both showed their skill in that battle, began also to make skilful passes at each other, and having struck each other, O king, those heroes took rest for a moment in the sight of all the troops. Having with their swords cut in pieces each other's beautiful shield, O king, decked with a hundred moons, those tigers among men, engaged themselves in a wrestling encounter."

Quote II;
"Those two foremost of car-warriors, having each cut off the other's handsome bow in that encounter, and having each quickly slain the other's driver and steeds approached each other on foot for a fight with swords. Both endued with massive arms, they looked resplendent on that extensive arena, each having taken up a shield decked with a hundred moons, and each armed with an excellent sword, like Jambha and Sakra, both endued with great might, in the battle between the gods and the Asuras (of old). Both of them, in that great battle, then began to career in circles. And then they speedily encountered each other in battle, each approaching the other near."
"And each of them made great efforts for the destruction of the other. Then Satwata cut in twain the shield of Kaikeya. The latter also, O king, cut in twain the shield of Satyaki. Having cut off his antagonist's shield covered with centuries of stars, Kaikeya began to career in circles, advancing and receding (at times). Then the grandson of Sini, endued with great activity, cut off by a sidestroke the prince of the Kaikeyas thus careering in that great arena armed with excellent sword. Cased in armour that great bowman, the Kaikeya prince, O king, thus cut off in twain in that great battle, fell down like a hill riven with thunder. Having slain him in battle that foremost of car-warriors that scorcher of foes, the brave grandson of Sini quickly got upon the car of Yudhamanyu."
Arjuna - With due respect only 3 incidents exist where he fought without using the arrow style of combat. His 3 incidents are defeating Angaraparna, dueling Shiva & using his unarmed skills to beat samsaptakas their was no incident apart from those three.
Rangbhumi:
"Arjuna showed his profound skill in the use of sword, bow, and mace, walking over the lists in circles."
The 2nd time he used a sword (besides off screen training under GuruDrona) is his duel with Shiva but all thats mentioned is that his blade broke/tore.
Quote;
"Arjuna took up his sword, and wishing to end the conflict, rushed at his foe. And then the Kuru prince, with the whole might of his arms, struck that sharp weapon upon the head of the Kirata, a weapon that was incapable of being resisted even by solid rocks. But that first of swords, at touch of the Kirata's crown, broke into pieces."

Later when arjuna informed his brothers of the fight he doesnt mention a sword being used by himself at all;
So due to a severe lack of achievements it would be unfair to place him in the list of top ten swordsmen in mahabharat.
Of course arjuna did take up/raise a blue sword to kill yudisther but he changed his mind by putting it back in a scabbard. So its no achievement.

Bhurishravas achievement.
Passage - "The son of Somadatta then, bearing the device of the sacrificial stake on his standard, that slayer of foes, quickly jumping down from his car, cut off with his large swords, his antagonist with his steeds, charioteer, standard, and car. Re-ascending then upon his own car, and taking up another bow, and guiding his steeds himself, he began, O monarch, to consume the Pandava host."
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In no particular order this will be the top 10 list.
1 - Dresthadyumna
2 - Guru Drona
3 - Abhimanyu
4 - Jarasandha
5 - Kripa
6 - Arjuna
7 - Jayadratha
8 - Chekitana
9 - Srikandhi
10 - Sutasoma
11 - Bhima
12 - Satyaki
13 - Bhurishravas

Numbers 2 to 13 are not ranked as weakest to strongest. Just Dresthadyumn was on the top then every other sword fighter is one point below him.

For Radheya Karna this's my unbiased opinion that he never used a blade against any warrior (apart from Jarasandha). His desire/aim to learn from Parshurama was entirely based on learning brahmastra, he unintentionally gained knowledge of bhargavastra, ownership of vijaya bow & a divine chariot but he did not have access to any divine swords. He did not have as much physical strength as Arjuna either so his sword attacks don't have as much force as Arjunas.

Maybe Vivinsati could get a honorable mention but the only thing he did was rush to Bhima (on day 11) carrying a sword/shield, no action is elaborated upon the fight between him & Bhima was not given focus by Sanjaya.

I have refused to include Sahadeva or Nakula because though they have alot of hype and access to the divine sword (ASI) the other side of the coin is that both of them lack sword achievements. Besides decapitating a son of karna or murdering thousands of cavalrymen prince Nakula did not have any sword achievement. A incident made up by fans is that he prevented rainfall from touching his body through using a sword to deflect all rain drops but this is a fake fanmade tale that finds no mention in Mahabharat so its not a usable feat.

Saturday, February 22, 2025

YudhisthiRespecThreaD

Introduction - i myself do not believe yudisther was a pure character a flawless character or a positive character, i consider him to be a grey character who had good qualities & bad qualities both. But i also believe if their is anyone that can be considered the main character of Mahabharat (besides arjuna) it would have to unfortunately be yudisther, cause he is in all eighteen books.

This post's purpose is only to show his achievements and credit him as a top ranked fighter. At night 14 it is true he held his own against Drona but he did not defeat Drona all he did was check his astras thats it. I will not count Yudisther killing Shalya to be an achievement because that happened only after shalya fought multiple warrior's already.

First i will explain his ocular power (which's related to vision/eyesight).
Him actually applying the power in battle;
"Thither where Pandu's son of virtuous soul cast his eyes with the desire of producing evil, thither thy army broke, O bull of Bharata's race."

Why Yudhisthir didn't burn anyone in the dice game.
Whilst I was tortured in the midst of the assembly by the wicked-souled sons of Dhritarashtra, my wrath, suddenly provoked, became cooled at sight of Karna. Even while listening to the harsh and bitter words of Karna himself on that occasion of our match at dice, to the words, that Karna uttered from desire of doing what was agreeable to Duryodhana, my wrath became cooled at sight of Karna's feet.
Logic - it was because of Karna having feet which looked like Yudhisthir's mothers. Otherwise he could have burned everyone to death. Being the son of Yamraj he can send them to yamlok/yamapuri.
Quote 1:
King Yudhishthira is always kind, O Bharata, to thy children. Though deprived of his kingdom and possessions by foul means, filled with wrath as he is, he doth not open eyes "I should not burn the people by looking at them with angry eyesthinking so, the royal son of Pandu goeth covering his face.
Quote 2:
"Would not the Pandavas destroy us by looking down upon us with angry eyes? I know the royal sage Yudhishthira to be possessed of great ascetic power. Ye Brahmanas, I am afraid of men that are devoted to Hari."
Quote 3:
"Yudhishthira, having modesty for his ornament, doth not cast angry glances on thy troops, so let hostility cease."
Quote 4: As long as Yudhishthira with eyes burning in wrath doth not consume thy troops in battle, let peace, O sire, be made!
Quote 5: "The wrath, born of grief, of that Yudhishthira whose body hath been purified by the flames of penance, directed to the wicked-souled son of Dhritarashtra, is consuming this Bharata host."
Quote 6:
"That mighty-armed and intelligent and courageous prince of unbaffled prowess, who, unassisted by any one, can consume the entire host of Duryodhana by means of his terrible glances alone, that slayer by his sight, that one bent on winning victory, that bowman, that hero of unfading glory, that self-restrained monarch who is revered by the whole world, O, who were those heroes (of my army) that surrounded that warrior?"
Quote 7:
[Statement]
"As regards Yudhishthira also, he can, with angry eyes only, consume the whole world."
8th quote; Then Shalya addressed him, and said, "Do not, O Karna, seize this best of kings. As soon as thou seizest him, he will reduce both thee and me to ashes."
https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m08/m08049.htm
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He was an all rounder.
Skilled in lance warfare.
[Quote]
"Yudhishthira, striking Karna with four lances in his two arms and forehead and chest, repeatedly uttered loud shouts. Thereupon blood spouted forth from the wounds of Karna, and the latter, filled with rage and breathing like a snake."
[End]

High praise;
"Thou must know that Yudhishthira is constantly engaged in the study of the Vedas. He is inclined to the horse-sacrifice and the Rajasuya. Again, he rides horses and elephants, is arrayed in armour, mounts a car, and takes up the bow and all kinds of weapons."
Claim - if he rode a horse or a elephant it implies that he was trained to become a cavalry soldier or a elephant rider too.

Yudhisther's magic;
Thereupon, Yudhishthira made himself ponderous to the Rakshasa. And being oppressed with the weight, he could not proceed rapidly as before. Then addressing Draupadi, Nakula and Sahadeva, Yudhishthira said "Do ye not entertain any fear of this wretched Rakshasa, I have checked his speed. The mighty-armed son of the Wind-god may not be far away; and on Bhima coming up at the next moment, the Rakshasa will not live." O king, staring at the Rakshasa bereft of sense, Sahadeva addressed Yudhishthira.
Logic - he was capable of changing his own body weight by will. Their is no evidence that balram, hanuman or parshurama ever had such an ability.

Draupadi-haran yudh.
"And in that encounter, the king himself slew in the twinkling of an eye, a hundred of the best warriors of the Sauviras."
"Then the king of Trigartas, bow in hand descending from his great chariot, killed the four steeds of the king with his mace. But Kunti's son, king Yudhishthira the just, seeing the foe approach so near, and fighting on foot, pierced his breast with a crescent-shaped arrow. And that hero, thus wounded in the breast began to vomit blood, and fell down upon the ground besides Pritha's son, like an uprooted tree."
Bhishma Parva.
"Thereupon Yudhishthira, the son of Dharma, blazed up with wrath, like the fire that blazeth forth at the end of the Yuga for consuming creatures. Beholding the son of Pandu excited with rage, the gods, the Gandharvas, and the Rakshasas, trembled, O king, and the universe became agitated. And even this was the thought that arose in the minds of all creatures that king, excited with rage, would that day consume the three worlds. Indeed, when the son of Pandu was thus excited with wrath, the Rishis and the celestials prayed for the peace of the world."
Comment; Everyone feared him.

"Checking, however, that wrath with patience, that great bowman endued with high renown then cut off Srutayush's bow at the grasp. And then, in the very sight of all the troops, the king in that battle pierced Srutayush whose bow had been cut off, with a long arrow in the centre of the chest. And the mighty Yudhishthira then, O king, speedily slew with his arrows the steeds of Srutayush and then, without losing a moment, his charioteer. Beholding the prowess of the king, Srutayush leaving that car whose steeds had been slain, quickly fled away from battle. After that great bowman had been vanquished in combat by the son of Dharma, all the troops of Duryodhana, O king, turned their faces."
Logic - he was able to beat Srutayush.
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In bhishma parva yudisther did not really make drona/bhishma run away, what happened is that bheem was able to knock out duryodhan in a arrow duel this led to the kaurav army (not brothers) running away so the top two leaders (bhishma/drona) needed to go backwards to rally them so they can regroup. It hasn't been mentioned whether they were hit by arrows of yudisther or not.

Here's the full complete passage/quote;
"Duryodhana, afflicted by the violence of that blow, sat down on the terrace of his car and swooned away. And his charioteer then, beholding him senseless, speedily bore him away, O king, from battle. And then the troops that supported Duryodhana broke and fled. And thereupon Bhima, smiting that Kuru army thus flying away in all directions, with sharp-pointed shafts, pursued it behind. And Prishata's son (Dhrishtadyumna), that foremost of warriors, and Pandu's son king Yudhishthira, the just, in the very sight, O Bharata, of both Drona and Ganga's son, slew their army with sharp shafts capable of slaying hostile forces. That host of thy son, thus flying away in battle, those mighty car-warriors. Bhishma and Drona were incapable of checking. For though attempted to be checked by Bhishma and the high-souled Drona, that host fled away in the very sight of Drona and Bhishma."
As u can read he did not defeat drona or bhishma during day three.

Yudhisther was able to beat Duryodhan in the war but any victory against duryodhan is not praiseworthy because he has been beaten almost as many times as karna has been defeated, same reason why knocking out karna is not mentioned here either. So besides the incidents i quoted in the post Yudisther did not have any great achievements.

Friday, February 21, 2025

Who did Abhimanyu kill?

Intro - The point of this post is not to highlight abhimanyu's power or give him a respect thread but instead the objective is for me to give a list of names for the characters that he killed.
Also i will start by listing the casualties for the 13th day after that it'll be back in time to day 1 until day eleven to see who he slayed.

On day 13.
Quote 1:
"Then with three other shafts of great sharpness, the mighty son of Arjuna, excited with rage, slew those three warriors, Sushena, Drighalochana, and Kundavedhin."
Quote 2:
"The younger brother of Salya, filled with wrath, advanced against Abhimanyu, scattering his shafts. Arjuna's son however endued with great lightness of hand, cut off his antagonist's head and charioteer, his triple bamboo-pole, his bed (on the car), his car-wheels, his yoke, and shafts and quiver, and car-bottom, by means of his arrows."
"So quick were his movements that none could obtain a sight of his person. Deprived of life, that foremost and chief of all ornaments of battle fell down on the earth, like a huge hill uprooted by a mighty tempest."
Quote 3:
"Then Abhimanyu, forcibly bending the bow and smiling the while, with one winged arrow cut off his antagonist's head. That head, severed from the trunk, fell down on the earth. Beholding his brother slain and overthrown, like a Karnikara tree shaken and thrown down by the wind from the mountain top, Karna, O monarch, was filled with pain."
[foster brother of karn]
Quote 4:
"Cased though he was in an iron coat of mail, the son of Subhadra pierced him in the chest with a far-reaching shaft. Thereupon Vasatiya fell down on the earth, deprived of life. Beholding Vasatiya slain, many bulls among Kshatriyas became filled with wrath, and surrounded thy grandson, O king, from a desire of slaying him."
Quote 5:
"Phalguni's son, however, cutting off his bow, his right and left arms, and his head adorned with beautiful eyes and eye-brows quickly felled them on the earth. Beholding Rukmaratha, the honoured son of Salya, slain by the illustrious son of Subhadra."

Quote 6:
"many princely friends of Salya's son, O king, accomplished in smiting and incapable of being easily defeated in battle, and owning standards decked with gold, (came up for the fight). Those mighty car-warriors, stretching their bows full six cubits long, surrounded the son of Arjuna, all pouring their arrowy showers upon him."
"Those hundred princes were slain and felled by Subhadra's son like a tope of five-year old mango-trees just on the point of bearing fruit (laid low by a tempest). Beholding those youthful princes brought up in every luxury, and resembling angry snakes of virulent poison, all slain by the single-handed Abhimanyu, Duryodhana was filled with fear."

Who Abhimanyu killed before laxman;
"After Duryodhana was beaten back and a hundred princes slain, what course was pursued by the warriors of my army against the son of Subhadra?"
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Quote 7
"That shaft, sped by Abhimanyu's arms, cut off the beautiful head, decked with ear-rings, of Lakshmana, that was graced with a beautiful nose, beautiful eye-brows, and exceedingly good-looking curls. Beholding Lakshmana slain, thy troops uttered exclamations."
Quote 8:
"The latter's bow and shafts, and bracelets, and arms, and head decked with diadem, and umbrella, and standard, and charioteer, and steeds, were all cut off and felled by Abhimanyu. When Kratha's son, possessed of nobility of lineage, good behaviour, acquaintance with the scriptures, great strength, fame, and power of arms, was slain, the other heroic combatants almost all turned away."
Quote 9:
The mighty Abhimanyu, then, in the very sight of thy heroic sons, slew the brave Vrindaraka, that enhancer of the fame of the Kurus. While Abhimanyu was thus engaged in fearlessly slaying one after another the foremost warriors among his enemies
Quote 10
"Ruler of the Kosalas, then, thus deprived of his car, took up a sword and wished to sever from Abhimanyu's trunk his beautiful head, decked with ear-rings. Abhimanyu then pierced king Vrihadvala, the ruler of the Kosalas, in the chest, with a strong arrow. The latter then, with riven heart, fell down. Beholding this, ten thousand illustrious kings broke and fled. Those kings, armed with swords and bows, fled away"

"The son of Subhadra then slew six of Karna's brave counsellors, conversant with all modes of warfare, with their steeds and charioteers and cars."
"Slaying next the son of the ruler of the Magadhas, Abhimanyu, with six straight shafts, slew the youthful Aswaketu with his four steeds and charioteer."

"Then slaying, with a sharp razor-headed arrow, the Bhoja prince of Martikavata, bearing the device of an elephant (on his banner), the son of Arjuna uttered a loud shout and began to scatter his shafts on all sides."
"Abhimanyu then slew five warriors., named Satrunjaya, and Chandraketu, and Mahamegba, and Suvarchas, and Suryabhasa."

"Then that hero pressed Suvala's son, Kalikeya, down into the earth, and stew seven and seventy Gandhara followers of the latter. Next, he slew ten car-warriors of the Brahma-Vasatiya race, and then ten huge elephants."

Complete list (13th day).
1 - Suvarchas
2 - Suryabhasa
3 - Satrunjaya
4 - Chandraketu
5 - Mahamegba
6 - Kalikeya
7 - Martikavata's prince (descendant of same Citrarath who parshuram's mother renuka lusted after)

8 - Aswaketu
9 - Prince of magada.
10 - Vrihadvalh (king of Ram's land Koshal)
11 - karna's foster brother (adhirath putra)
12 - Vrindaraka
13 - son of Kratha
14 - Laxman
15 - Vasatiya
16 - Rukmarath
17 - Drighalochan
18 - Shalya's brother
19 - Kundavedhin
20 - Sushena
Bonus would be the 6 counselor's of hijda Karna & 100 kshatriya rajkumars that were friend's of Rukmaratha.

Who Kratha was?
[Quote]
"Then Bhima, without losing a moment, despatched Kratha to the abode of Yama, with a long arrow of keen point. Deprived of life, that prince fell down on the Earth."
[End]
Logic - Kratha was Duryodhana's brother, his son would be a nephew to Duryodhana & a grandson of Dhritrashtra.
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Cross reference;
[Quote]
"Abhimanyu, he, having slain many thousands of men and steeds and elephants, and eight thousand cars, and once more nine hundred elephants, two thousand princes, and a large number of heroic warriors unknown to fame, and despatching in that battle king Vrihadvala also to heaven, at last, through ill luck, met with his own death. Thus hath occurred this event that so enhances our grief! That tiger among men hath even thus ascended to heaven!"
Logic - this indicates that he killed over 11 thousand warriors that day not a full aukshouni, half a aukshouni or 3/4ths of one. But its confirmed that at minimum 2 thousand of his victims were royal princes.
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Now i will discuss who he slew on days 2 to 11.
I already read his performance on day 1, though he fought well he didn't slay a important warrior that day.

2nd day: he did not kill any great names. In this chapter link its stated many kings arrived with duryodhana to fight abhimanyu but all of them get killed by arjuna instead of abhimanyu (according to sanjaya) - https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m06/m06055.htm If you are to be realistic then maybe it can be assumed that sanjaya made a mistake or did not see all that happened so possibly one of those kings indeed got killed by abhimanyu instead of arjuna.

Day 3 - random nameless warriors belonging to sakuni's legion were murdered by abhimanyu.
Quote;
"Satyaki, abandoning that car of his, speedily mounted on Abhimanyu's car, O chastiser of foes. And those two, mounted on the same car, then began to speedily slaughter the army of Suvala's son with straight arrows of sharp points."
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On day 4's early half it was mentioned that abhimanyu afflicted the kourav army but not whether he killed someone or not.
Quote;
"And seeing thy grandson, O king, thus afflicting thy host, thy warriors, O monarch, surrounded him on all sides. Then that smiter of foes, the son of Subhadra, depending upon his prowess and might, advanced with undepressed heart against the Dhartarashtra host. And while battling with the foe in that conflict, his mighty bow endued with the effulgence of the sun, was seen by all to be incessantly stretched for striking. And piercing the son of Drona with one shaft, and Salya with five, he overthrew the standard of Samyamani's son with eight shafts. And with another sharp-edged arrow he cut off the mighty dart of golden staff, resembling a snake, that was hurled at him by Somadatta's son. And the heir of Arjuna, baffling in the very sight of Salya, his hundreds of terrible shafts, slew his four steeds. Thereupon Bhurisravas, and Salya, and Drona's son and Samyamani, and Sala struck with the fear at the strength of arms displayed by Krishna's son could not stay before him."
Logic - here i removed the text which said said 'p. 158' also Sanjaya refers to abhimanyu as a grandson of dhritrashtra instead of pandu.

4th day ending.
{Passage}
"The ruler of the Magadhas, in that battle, urged his elephant resembling Airavata himself, towards the car of Subhadra's son. Beholding that mighty elephant advancing towards him, that slayer of hostile heroes, the brave son of Subhadra, slew it with a single shaft. And when the ruler of the Magadhas was thus deprived of his elephant, that conqueror of hostile cities, the son of Krishna, then struck off that king's head with a broad-headed shaft with silver wings."
Note: son of krishna here meant son of arjuna because he had another name like Krishna.
Krishna said: "Seven days have elapsed since the mighty Jayatsena, the ruler of the Magadhas, was slain in battle by Abhimanyu."
[end]
Comment - it could mean day 10 or even day 9.

Cross-reference:
[begin]
The mighty Jayatsena the son of Jarasandha, the prince of the Magadhas, O king, hath been slain in battle by the high-souled son of Subhadra."
[done]
Overall its unclear whether Jayatsena was a prince or king, its also not made clear whether his death was on day four, nine or ten.
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Day 5;
"Satyaki and Chekitana, and the mighty son of Subhadra, proceeded against Salya and the Kaikeyas."
Logic - shalya dies cause of yudisther & the only 2 relevant kekaya warriors (vinda/anuvinda) were murdered by satyaki later. So clearly their killer isn't abhimanyu. All he does here is fight and injure not murder or slay.

Passage:
"Then the princes of thy army, all heroic and mighty car-warriors, excited with wrath and united together in that conflict, pierced him with sharp arrows. And Abhimanyu, acquainted with the mightiest weapons, smote them all with keen shafts. Beholding that feat of his, thy sons then surrounded the son of Arjuna, who was consuming thy army in that conflict like a swelling fire of blazing flames consuming a heap of dry grass in summer."
Explanation: Here a case can be made for important royalty being slaughtered by him except their names had not been given by Sanjaya, Souti, Vyaas, Vaisampayan etc. But the term consuming alludes to carnage.
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Day 6;
"Yudhishthira the just, disposing all his own divisions properly despatched twelve mighty car-warriors including Abhimanyu and others to follow Bhimasena behind."

Day 7 - apart from his location in the army mode nothing much is mentioned of abhimanyu's actions that day, so him killing a relevant character or monarch is unlikely.

8th day - here abhimanyu defeated king Amvastha but himself did a group attack on Bhagadatta which led to him losing to bhagadatta, not a single character had been slain by abhimanyu today.
Quote;
"Abhimanyu also, with his shafts, deprived that renowned and foremost of car-warriors, viz., king Amvashta, of his car. Deprived of his car and about to be slain by the celebrated son of Subhadra, that king quickly jumped down from his car."
Logic - maybe abhimanyu killed his driver but its confirmed that this king did not die.

9th day:
"Death-dealing shafts, O king, shot by him in that battle, despatched many heroic Kshatriyas to the regions of the king of the departed spirits. Indeed, excited with wrath Subhadra's son in that battle shot fierce and blazing arrows in profusion that resembled snakes of virulent poison or rods of death himself. And Phalguni's son speedily split into fragments car-warriors with their cars, steeds with their riders, and elephant-warriors along with the huge animals they rode."
"And the rulers of the earth, filled with joy, applauded those mighty feats in battle and praised him also that achieved them. And the son of Subhadra, O Bharata, tossed those divisions (of the Kaurava army) like the tempest tossing a heap of cotton on all sides in the welkin. Routed by him, O Bharata, the troops failed to find a protector, like elephants sunk in a slough. Then, O best of men, having routed all troops, Abhimanyu stood, O king, like a blazing fire without a curl of smoke."
Size of a division: "25,000 foot-soldiers proceeded towards Partha and surrounded him. Then that mighty car-warrior amongst the Pancalas with Bhimasena at his head, speedily slew that brave division and stood triumphant." https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m09/m09003.htm

The driver of Chitrasena died:
"Son of Subhadra, having slain his antagonist's steeds and charioteer with nine arrows, uttered a loud shout. Thereupon that mighty car-warrior, (viz., Chitrasena), quickly jumping down from that car whose steed had been slain, mounted, O king, without delay, the car of Durmukha."
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Day 10.
Suyodhana's quote;
"Satyaki, and Chekitana, and the twin sons of Madri, and the valiant Abhimanyu,--these also are routing my troops."

11th day.
He kills the charioteer of paurava king (ancestor to porus):
"Mounting next upon his car, he seized Paurava by the hair, and slaying meanwhile with a kick, the latter's driver, he felled his standard with a stroke of his sword. And as regards Paurava himself, Abhimanyu raised him up, like the Garuda raising a snake from the bottom of the sea agitating the waters."
That ends it all now.
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List:
1 - Jayatsena
2 - driver of king Amvastha
3 - charioteer of prince Chitrasena
4 - nameless warriors
5 - multiple divisions (each consisted of 25 thousand men)
6 - sarathi of king paurava.
The reason i am not including day 12 is cause its made obviously clear he did not kill anyone during that day in particular.
Puzzle:
Name of Kundavedhin (murdered by Abhimanyu) has only one difference with the brother of Duryodhan whose name is Kundabhedin. That is the v & b so it is possible he was the same brother of Duryodhan that Bheem pledged to kill. Possibly the person who abhimanyu killed was actually a son of kundavedhin instead so a upa kourava who shared the name of his father/sire.

Overall abhimanyu is highly underestimated by bhishma tards & karna bhakts. But whats more important is that he has a higher list of kills/casualties than both karna/bhishma combined. Naming even four people killed by either bhishma or karna is difficult but naming abhimanyus casualties is not hard at all.