Top10 the most destructive weapons used in Mahabharata war

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The weapons of Mahabharata war were of spectacular and of rare characters which can’t be understood easily with a confined mindset. The Mahabharata war is the most Epic War ever fought in the world history. It was a war between Pandava and Kaurava for the shake of protecting Dharma . The war was so dreadful that billions of great warriors lost their life and only eleven of them lived .

Ample of evidence is there to hold this statement. Astrology , climatology and other fields of sciences are there to prove the war of Mahabharata really took place in Indian History . The archaeological evidence of the existence of Dwarka which was according to Purana was the palace of Lord krishna seemingly found underwater in Gujarat is the biggest proof of Mahabharata war which happened in 5561 BCE. 

This religious war was not an ordinary war but a war of supernatural weapons. In Hindi , Supernatural weapons are called “Divyastra”. Using divyastra was not common in dwapar Yuga too. This is clear from the incident of Arjuna. 

Arjuna who was a great warrior had gone to Pashupati by air to learn the techniques of using “Pashuatastra”. This indicates that the knowledge of Divyastras was not in common use. If someone wants to learn it then they have to get it from a specific source only. It wasn’t an easy task to get it .One has to go through intense pain while getting the depth knowledge of operating the supernatural weapons. Arjuna had spent his five years in Indralaya in training to acquire the knowledge of Divyastras .

Divyastra were not in reach of ordinary humans. As the name itself implies the divinity of it and their Genesis was in the firmament. They were divine in origin and  only could be created by Gods. Humans have only the power to operate it but not to create it. Unfortunately nearly all the super Warriors of Mahabharata who possessed these vidyas were killed in the Kurukshetra war

Many of the Supernatural weapons were used with some restrictions . For example, karna was instructed by Indra to use “Ekaghni” only when there was no option left otherwise it would destroy karna himself.

A tremendous effort has been given by our great rishis to bring down this knowledge of Divyastras to the realm of ordinary mind so that we can exactly know the way the war was fought .

Below is the list of top 10 the most Super Natural weapons which were used in Mahabharata war against each other and also mentioning the owner of these Divyastra and who possessed it in the Mahabharata war. Later , we will discuss about the kinds of power each divyastras had. 

Name of weapons (Divyastra )

Possessed by in Mahabharta War

Real owner 

Possessor fightning from which side

Ekaghni

Karna

Indra

 Kaurava side

Narayanastra

Aswathama

Narayana via Drona

   Kaurava

Manavastra

Arjuna

Brahman via Indra

   Pandava

Agneyastra

Aswathama ,

Arjuna

Gods via Bhardwaja , Agnivesya , Drona

Kaurava ,

Panadva

Brahmasiras

Aswathama , Arjuna

Brahman via Drona

Kaurava , Panadva

Pasupata

Arjuna

Pasupati

Pandava

Vajra

Ghatokacha

Rudra

Pandva

Gandharvastra

Abhimanyu

Gandharvas via Arjuna

      Pandava

         Vaisnavastra

       Bhagadatta

Vishnu Via Narkasura

     Kaurava

        Dhanu

       Drona

      Angiras

     Kaurava

There are more than other 10 supernatural weapons which were used in Mahabharata war . Below are some more Divyastras .

   Divyastras in Mahabharta war  ( weapons )

       Possessed by in Mahabharta war        

main owner

  Dhanu

 Drona 

  Angiras

Pasa 

 Arjuna 

 Varun

  Gada

 Bhima,

Srutayudha

Yauvanasva via Maya ,

Varuna

 Danda 

 Arjuna

 Yama

 Gandiva and inexhuastible quiver

 Arjuna 

Brahman via Varuna and agni 

Arjuna had obtained Gandharvastra from Tumbura after performing deep penance . Later , he passed this divyastra to his son , Abhimanyu . He got danda , pasa , prasvapana or antardhana by Yama ,varuna and Kubera respectively . He also possessed Manavastra .

 The most deadly weapons of Mahabharata war 

  • Narayanastra – From Narayanastra , Iron balls ,Sataghnis , Chakras with blades , razors and other objects shaped liked weapons come out of it . It’s usage go along with darkness , turbulance in ocean , storms and shaking of earth . The only way to counter Narayanastra was to discard all the weapons and descended to the ground from the chariot and surrender to the user with folded hands . This supernatural weapon was used by Aswathama on Pandava . Krishna knew the path to counter it . All Pandavas were informed about it and they all did as it was said .
  • Tvastra – Tvastra was capable of creating thousands of illusions . It could light fires
  • Brahamastra – Light fires . Drona’s Brahamastra was countered by Arjuna’s and Yudhisthira’s Brahamastra
  • Varunastra – It could release floods of water . Satyaki used it only to counter agneyastra .
  • Vayavyastra – It could raise storms . Drona’s Vayavyastra was countered by Yudhisthira
  • Gandharvastra – It could create delusions . It was used by Abhimanyu only when he was deeply wounded and in anger .
  • Vaisnavastra – It was impeccable and invincible . Vaisnavastra was used by Bhagadatta through charging an ankusha with it and launched it at Arjuna . As it was invincible and impeccable , Lord Krishna stood ahead of Arjuna and received it on his chest . The touch of Krishna’s chest , it transformed into a beautiful garland .
  • Agneyastra – It showered arrows and light fires on enemy and reduced them to ashes . This Divyastra was used by Aswathama which was countered by Arjuna’s Brahamastra . Drona’s agneyastra was countered by Arjuna’s Varunastra .

Divyas weapons of Arjuna like Yotisa and aditya were capable to dispel the darkness and break the delusion created by Sakun’s Maya . Brahamastra and Vayavyastra were used multiple time in Mahbharata War . Some of the restricted weapons Vaisnavastra ,narayanastra , and Ekaghni were used only one time because of its unique character . Using it more than one time could destroy the user itself .

criticism

There are multiple opposite thesis float around the world that these supernatural weapons were just the mere imagination of the author of the Mahabharata . There is no basis to prove it . Another claim is made that nothing like Divyastras were used in war . It was just fire -tipped arrows which were used in the war . If we go through this claim then is it possible that a fire -tipped arrows have the capability to burn the whole chariot , horses and soldiers at the same time ?

Conclusion

India had produced many enlightened masters who acquired great siddhis which are certainly out of the reach of ordinary minds . Even today one can find those enlightened masters on Himalayas who possess these siddhis . We are continuously trying to deny the facts that we are connected to cosmos . whatever in the cosmos is there in the body of us .

A person connected with cosmos can bring down the power there in the cosmos . Divyastras which were used in the Mahabharta war were the astras which had capability to go parallely with cosmos . Warriors of Mahabharata obtained it from the particular god who possessed these astras and I already have mentioned how difficult was to obtain these supernatural weapons.

We have certainly lost the techniques to connect with cosmos . Our vedas and Puranas talk exclusively on these practices . Meditation is the best start to sync with the energy of cosmos .

You may also like to read :

1.Dwarka :excavation of Krishna’s lost city in India | archeological evidence
2.Ancient education system in India
3.Why was Kurma avatar taken |Significance and Jayanti
4.Who is Vishwakarma and what he created ?


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