Krishna’sTest

With his mother’s leave, Barbarika rode towards Kurukshetra on his blue horse, his three arrows with him. Along the way he came upon a radiant Brahmin — a face of uncommon light, eyes of deep discernment.

This was Krishna himself. He knew that Barbarika carried three arrows that could decide the victory of either side in a moment — and that his vow was to aid whoever was losing. If Barbarika entered the war, then the instant one side weakened he would turn to it, and the war would never end.

Krishna held the view of the whole cosmos. He knew the Mahabharata had to be fought for the establishment of dharma, and that it had to reach a decisive end. Barbarika’s three arrows could prevent that decision.

The Brahmin asked Barbarika: "O warrior, your quiver holds but three arrows. How can these be enough for the vast war of the Mahabharata?"

Barbarika smiled and said: "O Brahmin, my three arrows are enough. With a single arrow I can mark all of creation." Krishna said, "Then give me proof. Do you see the peepal tree before you? Thread all its leaves on a single arrow."

Barbarika drew his first arrow and declared: "Let this arrow mark all that I wish to destroy." The arrow rose, flew, and in moments threaded every leaf of the peepal onto a single line.

But the arrow would not fully settle — it hovered at Barbarika’s feet. Krishna had quietly hidden one peepal leaf beneath his foot, and the arrow was still seeking that hidden leaf.

Krishna understood: this arrow was all-knowing, and nothing could hide from its sight. Barbarika’s power was beyond measure.

Krishna grasped the meaning of both Barbarika’s power and his vow. He revealed himself: "Child, I am Krishna. I know your vow is to aid the losing side. In this war loss will fall on both sides by turns. Your arrows will not let it reach a decision."

"For dharma to be established, Kurukshetra must end. I wish to ask one thing of you — the gift of the greatest Kshatriya, his head. Can you give your head in charity?"

Barbarika paused for a moment. Then his face lit with joy. If the gift of his head would establish dharma, what greater fortune could there be? He raised his sword.

Krishna stopped him: "If you have a last wish, ask it." Barbarika said, "Lord, I have but one wish — to watch the whole of the Mahabharata war with my own eyes." Krishna agreed, and set his head upon a high hill from which all of Kurukshetra could be seen.

Barbarika cut off his own head with his own hands and gave it in charity. It was the highest sacrifice — the greatest warrior of the Mahabharata, offering himself willingly, before the war had even begun.

Pleased with the gift of his head, Krishna gave Barbarika a boon: "O warrior, I am greatly pleased by your sacrifice. In the Kali Yuga you will be worshipped by my own name — Shyam. Your place of devotion will be the village of Khatu. Whoever calls on you with a true heart will have all their wishes fulfilled."

"You will be called Hare ka Sahara — the refuge of the vanquished. Whoever is defeated in life, whoever despairs, you will be their true companion. This shall be your dharma now, in its fuller form."

So Barbarika became a partial avatar of Krishna. His head remained on the hill until the war ended, watching all. The Pandavas won; dharma was established.

After the war his head was laid in sacred ground. But the story does not end there — with the coming of the Kali Yuga, that head appeared again to light the world as "Khatu Shyam". That is the story of the third parva.