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."
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m02/m02019.htm (Chapter linK)
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."
Drona Vadham;
"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.
First fight - http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m07/m07015.htm
Second fight - https://sacred-texts.com/hin/m09/m09011.htm
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.
