How strong was King Shalya?

 King Salya: An Underrated Warrior

This image fits Salya’s description in the text, as one of the strongest men in the world, and compared to the moon in his beauty (unlike the scrawny balding guy they showed him as in the Star Plus Mahabharata.)

King Salya

• Class: Atirathi
• Weapon(s) - Bow and Arrow, Gada

Feats

Salya is another incredibly powerful warrior who gets underrated by Quorans. Too often do I see him get placed low when in reality he’s a high-tier warrior. He is NOT below warriors like Bhurishrava or Dhrishtadyumna.

King Salya defeated Satyaki

“The
king
of
Madra
angrily struck
Satyaki
with
nine
arrows
and
pierced
him
again
with
seventy
arrows
with
drooping
tufts.
O
venerable
one! He
struck
down
the
bow
in
his93
hand,
with
an
arrow
affixed
to
it
and,
in
the
battle,
dispatched
his
four
horses
to the
land
of
the
dead.
Satyaki
was
deprived
of
his
chariot
by
the
immensely
strong
king
of
Madra,
who
struck
him with
one
hundred
arrows
from
every
direction.
O
Kouravya!
He
then
pierced
Madri’s
angry
sons,
Pandava
Bhimasena
and
Yudhishthira
with
ten
arrows
each.
We
witnessed
the
king
of
Madra’s
extraordinary
manliness.
Even though
they
were
together,
the
Parthas
could
not
counter
him
in
the
battle.”

King Salya cut the bow of Satyaki

“He
pierced
Yudhishthira
with
ten
sharp
arrows.
Satyaki
was
angry that
Dharma’s
son
was
thus
afflicted
by
arrows.
He
enveloped
the
brave
lord
of
Madra
with
torrents
of
arrows.
In Bhimasena’s
presence,
he
then
used
a
kshurapra
arrow
to
slice
down
Satyaki’s
large
bow
and
struck
him
with
three arrows.”

King Salya tied Bhima in Gada-Yuddha

“The
club
of
the
king
of
Madra
struck
Bhima
on
the
left
and
the
right.
But
he
did not
waver,
like
a
mountain
that
has
been
struck.
Similarly,
the
immensely
strong
Bhima’s
club
struck
the
lord
of Madra.
But
he
bore
it
with
patience,
like
a
mountain
struck
by
the
vajra.
They
raised
their
giant
clubs
and
attacked each
other
with
great
force.
They
repeatedly
roamed
around,
executing
circular
motions.
They
approached
each other
by
eight
steps
and
suddenly
attacked
each
other
like
elephants
wishing
to
kill
each
other,
with
clubs
like
iron rods.
They
were
severely
wounded
from
the
force
of
each
other’s
clubs.
The
brave
ones
simultaneously
fell
down, like
shattered
poles
of
Indra.”

King Salya again fought equally with Bhima in Gada-Yuddha

“They
were
severely
struck
in
their
inner
organs
and
lost
their
senses.
Shalya,
bull
among
the Madras,
was
severely
struck
by
the
club
and
Kripa
used
his
chariot
to
swiftly
bear
him
away
from
the
field
of
battle.
Bhimasena
was
also
weakened
and
senseless.

King Salya overpowered Yudhishthira

‘“In the battle, the great archer, Yudhishthira, fought with the king of Madra. He was protected by a large army and oppressed him. In that encounter for the sake of Bhishma, the valiant king of Madra was enraged and afflicted the maharatha who was Dharma’s son

King Salya defeated Dhrishtadyumna, who was rescued by Abhimanyu

“Shalya
oppressed
Dhrishtadyumna
with nine
arrows.
He
was
enraged
and
oppressed
the
lord
of
Madra
with
iron
arrows.
We
then
witnessed
Parshata’s
extraordinary
valour,
as
he
swiftly
countered
Shalya,
the
adornment
of
assemblies.
As
they
engaged
in
battle,
no
gap could
be
seen
and
the
battle
between
the
two
seemed
to
last
only
for
an
instant.
O
great
king!
In
that
encounter, Shalya
sliced
down
Dhrishtadyumna’s
bow
with
a
broad-headed,
yellow
and
sharp
arrow.
O
descendant
of
the Bharata
lineage!
He
enveloped
him
with
a
shower
of
arrows
and
it
was
like
clouds
showering
down
rain
on
mountains
at
the
time
of
the
monsoon.
When
Dhrishtadyumna
was
thus
tormented,
Abhimanyu
became
angry.
With great
force,
he
dashed
towards
the
chariot
of
the
king
of
Madra.”

King Salya was toying with the Madreyas and while doing so defeated Nakula

Finding himself engaged in battle with his maternal uncle, Sahadeva repulsed him with a shower of arrows, like clouds shrouding the sun. Covered by that shower of arrows, he seemed to be happy.281 On account of their mother, the twins were also extremely delighted. O king! In that battle, smilingly, the maharatha282 used four supreme arrows to despatch Nakula’s four horses to Yama’s abode. With the horses slain, the maharatha283 quickly descended from his chariot and ascended onto his illustrious brother’s vehicle.

A chariotless, armorless Salya defeated Nakula with nothing but a sword and shield

“When
his
armour
was
severed
by
Bhimasena,
the
lord
of
Madra
picked up
a
shield
that
was
marked
with
the
signs
of
one
thousand
stars.
The
great-souled
one
jumped
down
from
his chariot.
Grasping
a
sword,
he
dashed
towards
Kunti’s
son.
Terrible
in
his
strength,
he
destroyed
Nakula’s
chariot and
advanced
towards
Yudhishthira.”

King Salya defeated Sahadeva

“When
the
horses
were
slain,
Pandu’s
descendant descended
from
his
chariot
and
fought
with
a
club
in
his
hand,
like
Yama
with
an
upraised
staff.
In
his
sight,
the king
of
Madra
slew
Sahadeva’s
horses”

King Salya killed Uttara Kumara and his elephant

Shalya countered it. However, that king of ele- phants was enraged. It placed its leg on the yoke of the chariot and killed the four large and well-trained horses. Though the horses were killed, the lord of Madra remained on his chariot. So as to kill Uttara, he hurled a lance that was like a serpent. His68 body and armour were pierced and he was submerged in great darkness.69 With the grip on goad and lance loosened, he fell down from the shoulder of the elephant. Shalya grasped a sword and descended from his supreme chariot. With great valour, he sliced off the great trunk of that king among elephants. With its inner parts pierced by showers of arrows and with its trunk severed, the elephant let out a terrible roar. It fell down on the ground and died.

King Salya defeated Virata

‘“Virata advanced against Drona, powerfully and swiftly. But the king of Madra shrouded the archer with a torrent of arrows. In the battle, both of them were firm archers and a duel commenced between them. O king! It was like that between Jambha163 and Vasava in ancient times. O great king! Virata was the leader of an army and the king of Madra quickly struck him with a hundred sharp arrows with straight tufts. The king164 pierced him back with nine sharp arrows. He then struck him again with seventy-three arrows and yet again with one hundred. The king of Madra slew the four horses that were yoked to his chariot. In that encounter, he brought down his charioteer and his standard from his chariot.

King Salya defeated Shankha, son of Virata

Then
Shalya
grasped
a
club
in his
hand
and
descended
from
his
great
chariot.
O
bull
among
the
Bharata
lineage!
He
killed
Shankha’s
four
horses. When
his
horses
were
slain,
Shankha
alighted
from
his
chariot
and
grasping
a
sword,
ran
towards
Bibhatsu’s72 chariot.
Climbing
onto
it,
he
found
peace
again.

Verdict

I think Salya’s feats speak for themselves. He has only ever been defeated by the following warriors

• Arjuna
• Abhimanyu
• Bhima
• Yudhishthira
• Nakula
• Sahadeva (It was a 1v2 where both Madreyas fought Shalya)

Of these warriors he has also defeated Nakula and Sahadeva, and tbh he was described as smiling during his loss to Nakula and his loss to Sahadeva, and the circumstances under which he beat Nakula and Sahadeva are much more impressive. He has also overpowered Yudhishthira at one point but Yudhishthira is positive against Shalya record-wise. He has also beaten powerful warriors like SATYAKI, and Dhrishtadyumna.

Effective Ways to Become Mentally Strong Person

• Stay Positive: Focus on solutions and practice gratitude.
• Embrace Change: Try new things and accept what you can’t control.
• Set Goals: Write clear goals and celebrate small achievements.
• Understand Feelings: Recognize your emotions and practice mindfulness.
• Build Relationships: Connect with supportive people and learn from role models.
• Take Care of Your Body: Exercise, eat well, and get enough sleep.
• Keep Perspective: Remember tough times are temporary and learn from past challenges.

These tips can help you become mentally stronger!

Which birds are more strange than most people realize?

 I’m gonna have to go with hummingbirds. You may well have seen some firsthand, and while they are generally considered novel creatures, I don’t think many are aware of just how bizarre they really are.

First and foremost, there’s their metabolism. Hummingbirds have the fastest metabolic rate of any animal on Earth, except for some insects. Their hearts beat at a positively mind-blowing rate of 1,260 BPM during flight, and even at rest they have to take 250 breaths per minute. For comparison, the average person’s max heart rate and resting breathing rate are 180 and 12–20, respectively.

Having a breakneck metabolism brings with it many, many challenges. To prevent themselves from overheating, many hummingbird have featherless patches under their shoulders, on their wings, and around their eyes, where excess heat can dissipate efficiently.

That said, if a human were to have the same metabolic rate, despite being wholly hairless, they would surely perish. This is, of course, because we are much, much, much bigger than hummingbirds. In fact, hummingbirds are the world’s smallest birds by far.

In Cuba, you can find the aptly named bee hummingbird, whose size cannot be understated. The males can measure as little as 5 centimetres in length, and weigh a paltry 2 grams. Despite their tininess, bee hummingbirds are quite beautiful.

You would think these minuscule birds wouldn’t eat much food, but - bearing in mind their metabolism - that is far from the case. Every day, a typical hummingbird will suck nectar from roughly 2,000 flowers, in addition to eating plenty of small insects, consuming triple their bodyweight in food total. They have to eat once every 10–15 minutes.

They also take in a huge amount of water, up to five times their bodyweight daily. That would be equivalent to me downing more than 1,600 glasses in a single day, i.e. a few glasses in every minute I’m awake. Because of this massive influx of hydration, their kidneys have evolved to precisely filter the levels of water and electrolytes in the body.

You might also be wondering how hummingbirds cope with lean times, given that they need so much food just to survive. If there is a shortage of nutrition, they take extreme measures - that is, they enter a hibernation-like state of torpor in order to save energy. The heartbeat slows down to 1/25th of its normal pace, and their body temperature more than halves.

Rather adorably, hummingbirds hang upside down while they are torpid!

The hummingbird metabolism means that the mitochondria in their cells must produce energy as quickly and efficiently as possible. So, instead of performing glycolysis - breaking glucose down into pyruvic acid and using the resulting free energy to form molecules like ATP - like normal organisms, they have the amazing ability to instantly convert glucose into energy, by simply oxidizing it.

What’s even more interesting is that they can do the same thing to another sugar, fructose. As well as being high in glucose, flower nectar contains plenty of fructose, so by being able to immediately metabolize it they get a lot more fuel out of their food.

Speaking of nectar, hummingbirds ingest this sweet liquid using one of the most fascinating tongues in the animal world. This tongue is so long that it coils around the skull when retracted, and has two twin tubes. When the tongue is ejected, the tubes split apart, and a row of flaps unfurls on each side.

Droplets catch on these flaps, which snap shut as the tongue is drawn back into the mouth, trapping the nectar. This repeats in incredibly rapid succession, as the hummingbird flicks their tongue in and out of the flower with a pumping action.

Another cool adaptation one species has for nectarivory is an absurdly long beak. The sword-billed hummingbird of the Andes has the proportionally longest bill of any bird in the world; at more than 15 cm, it even exceeds the body length.

This allows the species to access flowers which have very deep corollas (petal tubes), which are out of reach to all of their would-be competitors.

While we’re on the topic of odd and novel species of hummingbird, I should also mention a couple of types which have beautiful plumage. Specifically, the long-tailed sylph:

And the white-booted racket tail:

The former has extraordinarily long tail feathers, and the latter has a very interesting sexual display feature. Male racket-tails get their name from the two little oval-shaped flags which trail behind them, used for attracting females. Both sexes also have lovely fluffy pom poms on their legs - hence “white-booted”.

Lastly, hummingbird behaviour is almost as fascinating as their diet and metabolism. Take flight, for example Hummingbirds are perhaps the most skilled aviators in nature (insects aside); their aerial acrobatics are simply jaw-dropping. They can fly in any direction, including backwards and sideways, and can hover on the spot.

To perform these feats, they beat their wings at an unimaginably fast pace of 80 times per second!

Focusing one’s eyes with so much rapid aerial movement is also highly challenging; in order to refine their vision, the optic tract of the hummingbird brain is greatly enlarged. In addition to that, they are tetrachromatic; they have four types of colour receptor cells, in comparison to our three. This enables them to perceive five extra colours which are “invisible” to us humans.

Not only do they have enhanced vision - they appear to have enhanced intelligence, too. Relative to their body size, hummingbirds have the biggest brain of any bird - they account for nearly 5% of the mass, whereas our brains are around 2% of our total body weight.

Of course, we have to keep in mind that this is partially because they’re so small - brain size does not scale directly proportionally to body weight. However, hummingbirds show behavioural signs of intelligence as well: they are one of only three bird groups which have vocal learning abilities, i.e. listening to, imitating and reproducing the sound of others.

How strong was Ravana as a warrior?

 Ravana was the strongest rakshasa of Treta yug because of the boon he recieved from Brahma.

Ravana had a boon from Brahma that no god or demon can defeat him in fight

Ravana replied, ‘May I never suffer defeat at the hands of gandharvas, gods, asuras, yakshas, rakshasas, serpents, kinnaras and demons.’

Indra , Vayu and Yama fled away from his mere presence .

Scared of being oppressed, they assumed the forms of other species. Indra turned into a peacock, Dharmaraja into a crow, the lord of treasures into a lizard and Varuna into a swan. Ravana, the lord of the rakshasas, approached the king and said, “Give me a fight or say that you have been vanquished by me.”

Ravana overpowered Indra in archery and broke his bow

Shakra stretched his large bow, which emitted an extremely large sound. The sound of it being twanged resounded in the ten directions. Indra stretched that great bow and brought down arrows that were as radiant as the sun on Ravana’s head. However, the mighty-armed Dashagriva remained there. He showered down arrows and dislodged Shakra’s bow. They fought against each other and showered down arrows in every direction. Nothing could be discerned then. Everything was covered in darkness.’

most people quote Sage Agastya,’s statement of Meghnad being powerful than Ravana and Kumbhkarana. but statements can never be taken literally.

If Meghnad was more powerful than Ravana then why did Vishnu take birth as Lord Rama to kill Ravana.

And the very point of Sri Rama’s birth was to kill Ravana and not his son. Sri Vishnu and Devas did not even care for the elimination of Indrajit or Kumbhkarana. Their aim was to kill Ravana only.

तत्र त्वं मानुषो भूत्वा प्रवृद्धं लोककण्टकम् || १-१५-२१
अवध्यं दैवतैर्विष्णो समरे जहि रावणम् |

"Oh! Vishnu, on your taking birth as human through the wives of Dasharatha you eliminate Ravana in war, who has become exacerbating and thorny to all worlds, and who is otherwise not eliminable for gods. [1-15-21b, 22a]

- Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Khanda.

this alone proves how powerful Ravana was. Vishnu himself had to incarnate as Rama to kill him and Lord Rama was the strongest warrior of Ramayana.

Ravana was powerful enough to lift the three worlds. A feat that Adikavi Valmiki himself mentions.

हिमवान् मन्दरो मेरुस्त्रैलोक्यम् वा सहामरैः |
शक्यम् भुजाभ्यामुद्दर्तुम् न शक्यो भरतानुजः || ६-५९-१११

Though he was able to lift up Himavat, Mandara and Meru mountains as also the Three Worlds with the Gods, he could not raise Lakshmana the younger brother of Bharata.

- Valmiki Ramayana, Yuddha Khanda, Sarga 59.

Apart from this Ravana lifted the Kailasha mountain along with Lord Shiva and Parvati as per Uttar Kand.

Ravana had all the missiles and Valmiki Ji himself mentions it in Aranya Khanda.

सर्व दिव्य अस्त्र योक्तारम् यज्ञ विघ्न करम् सदा |
पुरीम् भोगवतीम् गत्वा पराजित्य च वासुकिम् || ३-३२-१३
तक्षकस्य प्रियाम् भार्याम् पराजित्य जहार यः |

He who is a marksman of every divine missile, and an ever interdictor of Vedic-rituals, and who on going to the city named Bhogavati, the capital of Naga-s, and on defeating Vasuki, the King of Serpents, has abducted the dear wife of Taksha on molesting her, and Shuurpanakha saw such a molester of others wives. [3-32-13, 14a]

- Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Khanda, Sarga 32.

Ravana,’s Brahma armour was able to tank the Sudharsana chakra of Vishnu and Vajrastra of Indra dev

He also observed the two outstretched arms of the gigantic lord of ogres, which were adorned with armlets of gold and resembled a pair of flags raised in honour of Indra which bore scars of wounds sustained in combat with the ends of the tusks of Airåvata, the carrier of Indra, nay, whose fleshy shoulders had been lacerated by the thunderbolt of Indra and which had been injured by the discus of Lord Visnu; which were fleshy and culminated in uniform and well-formed shoulders, were tough-jointed and powerful, bore auspicious marks on their nails and thumbs and were characterized by shapely fingers and palms.

~Sundara Kanda , 10

He defeated the entite army of vanaras using Tamastra

Ravana overpowered Hanuman in wrestling fight and defeated Lakshmana twice using infalliable weapons in fight.

Ravana had defeated almost every warrior from Rama,’ s army except Lord Rama and Hanuman

Ravana equipped with his Brahma armour fought with Lord Rama for seven days non stop.

At one point of time, Rama was said to be eclipsed by Ravana’s valor and momentarily was so overwhelmed that he couldn't even fit the arrows to his bow.

He tore the standard of Indra’s chariot with a single arrow aimed at it, and having felled the golden ensign from the top of the chariot down to the seat of the chariot,

Råvana struck Indra’s horses as well with a series of arrows. Seeing Råma afflicted, the gods, Gandharvas (celestial musicians) and Cåranas (celestial bards) alongwith the devils as also the Siddhas (a class of demigods endowed with mystic powers by virtue of their very birth) and the foremost Rishis became despondent; while monkey chiefs alongwith Vibhishana felt troubled.

Seeing the moon in the shape of Råma eclipsed by the planet Råhu in the shape of Råvana, the planet Mercury stood assailing the constellation Rohini presided over by the god Prajåpati (the lord of creation), the beloved of the moon, spelling disaster to all created beings. Burning as it were in fury, the ocean rose high at that time as though it was going to touch the sun, its mist-wreathed waves turning round.

Looking ashy in colour and assuming a stern aspect, its rays grown faint, the sun appeared with a headless trunk in its lap and united with a comet. The planet Mars too evidently stood assailing in the heavens the constellation Visåkhå, presided over by the gods, Indra and Agni (the god of fire), which is propitious to the kings of Kosala. A bow held tightly in his hands, Råvana, the ten-headed monster, with his ten faces and twenty arms looked like the Mainåka mountain.

Being overwhelmed by the ten-headed ogre, Råma for his part could not even set his arrows to his bow in the forefront of the battle. Knitting his brows, his eyes turned slightly crimson, he gave way to a fierce rage as though he would consume the ogres. Casting their eyes at the countenance of the sagacious Råma, who was provoked to anger, all created beings were seized with terror and the earth began to quake.

Ravan was also shown to compete with Lord Rama himself in archery without the aid of Brahma armour

Seeing him deploying increasing efforts in the struggle, Kakutstha, as if smiling, took up his sharp arrows and loosed them in hundreds and thousands. Observing them fall, Ravana, with his shafts, covered the entire sky and, on account of that rain of dazzling missiles loosed by those two antagonists, it seemed as if a second heaven of weapons had been created and, amongst them, there was not one that did not attain its target, not one, that did not pierce another and not one, that was loosed in vain; and, having collided with one another, they fell to the ground.

Thus Rama and Ravana fought with an increasing supply of weapons and, in the struggle, they showered down their spears without pause to right and left, so that these formidable weapons covered the firmament; Rama striking Ravana’s steeds and Ravana striking those belonging to Rama; thus, both exchanged blow for blow and both, in the height of anger, entered upon a tremendous duel causing the hair to stand on end. Then with sharpened arrows Rama and Ravana continued their combat and, contemplating his broken standard, Ravana was consumed with rage.

Ravana (with his Brahma armour) was the strongest warrior from Ramayana after Lord Rama.

even after his death he was praised by Lord Rama for his bravery

अधर्मानृतसन्युक्तः काममेष निशाचरः || ६-१११-१००
तेजस्वी बलवाञ्शूरः सङ्ग्रामेषु च नित्यशः |

"This demon may be full of unrighteousness and falsehood. But, he was brilliant, strong and ever a brave warrior in battles."

- Valmiki Ramayana, Yuddha Khanda, Sarga 111.