Barbarika Ākhyāna
Barbarika is the son of Ghaṭotkaca and Kāmakaṭaṅkaṭā. His father was a rākshasa warrior and his mother was an asura princess. He grew into a warrior without equal and won a great siddhi (spiritual power) at Guptakshetra. At Kurukshetra he boasted that he could destroy an army in one muhūrta (a short span of time). Kṛshṇa cut off his head with the Sudarśana discus before the war began. The head lived on, watched the whole war, and told Bhīma who had truly destroyed the Kauravas.
This is the closing narrative of the Kaumārika Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa.
Birth and name
Ghaṭotkaca and Kāmakaṭaṅkaṭā were married with a formal celebration at Indraprastha, with the blessings of Kṛshṇa and the Pāṇḍavas. A son was born to them. He was named Barbarika. The name comes from “Barbara”, the name of a foreign tribe, because his hair grew in the manner of the Barbaras.
He had the fierceness of the rākshasa line of Bhīma’s son. He also had the asura-born power of Muru’s daughter. So he was a warrior of unmatched strength from birth.
Journey to Guptakshetra
When Barbarika grew up, he heard of the great holiness of the Mahīsāgara Saṅgama, also called Guptakshetra. He went there as a tīrtha-yātrā (a journey to a holy place). He bathed in the holy water of the Mahī. He did pūjā with great devotion to the Liṅgas and Ādityas set up at the Saṅgama.
Through the power of his sādhanā (spiritual practice) at this place, he gained a supreme siddhi. This included the three famous arrows, called ash-arrows or bhasma-śaras. These became his own weapons. The arrows could mark the weak spot of any target. When used fully, they could destroy a whole army.
The boast at Kurukshetra
As the great war at Kurukshetra was about to begin, Barbarika came to the battlefield with his three arrows. He stood before the Pāṇḍavas and Kṛshṇa. He said that he would destroy the whole Kaurava army in a single muhūrta.
Kṛshṇa wanted to test the claim. He said, “Show us your power.”
Barbarika fitted one ash-arrow to his bow and let it fly. The arrow flew over both armies and came back. It had marked with ash every warrior who was fated to fall, and the spot on the body where each could be killed.
It marked these:
- Bhīshma’s hair
- Karṇa’s neck
- Droṇa’s neck
- Duryodhana’s thigh
- Śalya’s chest
- Śakuni’s neck
- Bhagadatta’s neck
- Kṛshṇa’s foot-sole
It marked others too, among the Kauravas and among the allies of the Pāṇḍavas. It marked Drupada’s neck, Śikhaṇḍin’s hip and Dhṛshṭadyumna’s neck. The Pāṇḍavas themselves were spared.
Kṛshṇa cuts off Barbarika’s head
Kṛshṇa took up his discus Sudarśana. Before Barbarika could take any side in the battle, Kṛshṇa cut Barbarika’s head from his body.
Caṇḍikā tells of the past life
After the beheading, the devī Caṇḍikā appeared. She told who Barbarika truly was.
Barbarika was the rebirth of Sūryavarcas. Sūryavarcas was a lord of the yakshas and the supreme chief of eighty-four crores of yakshas. In an earlier age he had climbed Mount Meru in pride and boasted openly of his power and greatness. The four-faced Brahmā saw this pride and cursed him with a śāpa:
“You have boasted like this on this holy mountain, so you will be born as a rākshasa. But because of your devotion and your good qualities, you will gain moksha at Guptakshetra through the grace of the devas.”
The curse was fulfilled when Sūryavarcas was born as Barbarika, the son of Ghaṭotkaca and Kāmakaṭaṅkaṭā. At Guptakshetra he gained siddhi. The beheading by Kṛshṇa was the last event that closed the cycle.
Kṛshṇa’s vara
After Caṇḍikā had spoken, Kṛshṇa turned to the severed head of Barbarika with great respect. He gave a vara (a boon):
“O Sūryavarcas, your head will stay deathless. You will be honoured in all three worlds. All beings, devas, humans, yakshas and rākshasas, will bow to you. You will see this whole war from your high place, and your sight will be that of a witness who favours no side. The puṇya (merit) of honouring you will be very great.”
Kṛshṇa also told how Barbarika is to be honoured. The days are the new-moon day (amāvāsyā) in the month of Śrāvaṇa and Vaiśākha Kṛshṇa Trayodaśī (the thirteenth day of the dark half of Vaiśākha). The pūjā is with one hundred lamps and offerings of pūrikās (fried wheat bread). This pūjā destroys pāpa and gives both worldly well-being and moksha.
The head sees the war
The deathless head of Barbarika was placed on a high post at Kurukshetra. From there it watched the whole eighteen-day war. Its sight was clear and favoured no side. It saw what no single warrior in the fight could see.
When the war was over, Bhīma was proud of what he had done. He had killed Duryodhana and many great Kaurava warriors. He asked the head, “Tell me truly, who killed all these warriors? Was it not I and my brothers, by our own skill and strength?”
The head of Barbarika answered:
“O Bhīma, all through this war I saw a shining being, vast and bright. On his left side stood Śiva and on his right side stood Vishṇu, and they were not two beings but one. This one supreme Being, Śiva and Vishṇu together, destroyed the Kauravas. The arrows were yours and the bows were the warriors’, but the destruction was his alone. Do not be proud, O Bhīma.”
This is the teaching of abheda (non-difference) between Śiva and Vishṇu, as seen by Barbarika.
Prayer to Sūryavarcas
The Kaumārika Khaṇḍa keeps a prayer to Barbarika in his first identity as Sūryavarcas, for devotees to recite.
The prayer calls him the lord of eighty-four crores of yakshas. It calls him the one who boasted on Meru and received Brahmā’s curse. It calls him the one who was born as a rākshasa warrior and gained siddhi at Guptakshetra. It calls him the one whose head Kṛshṇa consecrated, who saw the whole Kurukshetra war, and who now stands as the everlasting witness. He is the deathless giver of vara and the destroyer of pāpa for those who come to him with devotion. The devotee prays to be freed from pāpa and to be given the four purushārthas (the four aims of life).
Phalaśruti, the fruit of hearing this narrative
Nārada ends the Kaumārika Khaṇḍa with this declaration. The whole Khaṇḍa brings puṇya without measure. It includes the greatness of Guptakshetra and its Liṅgas, the accounts of the holy tīrthas and of the devotees who gained siddhi, the marriage of Śiva and Gaurī, the birth of Kumāra and the defeat of Tārakāsura. It ends with the life of Barbarika.
One who hears or reads this whole Khaṇḍa gains all that he desires and in the end moksha. Guptakshetra spreads over seven krośas, and every spot in it has the holiness of the Mahīsāgara Saṅgama.
Sources
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapter 60
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapters 60–63
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapter 66