According to the Puranas and Epics, which divine weapon (Astra) holds the supreme power?

 

All the Asthras are not merely weapons they are Devatha Shakti Each Asthra has a uniqueness.

If we look into Bhramanda Purana the Intergalactic War between Sri Lalitha Maha Tripura Sundari and Bhandasura is unparalleled.

Please see the list of Astharas which Bhandasura used and the counterpart Amma used that Nullified them :

Andhathamishra - Surya Aasthra

Mooka Ashtra - Gayatri Manthra

Sarva Roga Ashtra - Nama Thraya Asthra (Achutha Anantha Govinda)

Asura Asthra (All the Asuras were Born - Mahishasura, Rakthabeeja, Shumbha, Nishumbha etc) - Amma Used Durga Asthra

Amma cleared the Entire Warrior Sena with one Asthra Maha Pashupatham and finally Amma killed Bhandasura and burned down his Sunyaka Nagaram by Kameshwara Asthra.

So ashtras are Manthra and Devatha Shakti that generate Power in various ways.

Even the Indra's Vajram, Yama Dandam, Vishnu Sudarshana, Shiva Trishulam etc etc all are Ashtras which have a Manthra and Devatha which can be worshiped by anyone.

Personally when read Mahabharatha - felt like Pashupatha Ashtra was very special and furious in Nature.

After getting the Pashupatha Asthra from Shiva, Indra invited Arjuna to Heaven (Swarga Lokam). After spending some time there Indra informed Arjuna that there is a Clan of Asuras named Nivatha Kavachas who are bothering him and his Kingdom. So asked Arjuna if he could fight them and get rid of them. Arjuna happily aggred to the offer and wore a Devine Armour given by Indra and on the Chariot with Green Horses and a charioteer named Mathali carrying his Bow Gandeevam Arjuna went to the war and won all the 30 Million Rakshasha single handedly.

While returning back to Amravati (Heaven's Capital) he saw a place and asked what is this place to Mathali. He said they are another set of Asuras or Rakshasha that occationally bother Indra and other Devathas. Hearing Arjuna said let's take care of them too. In headcount they are 60000 people called as Kalakeyas but 10 times more dangerous than Nivatha Kavachas.

So Arjuna invited them for a Mortal Combat. In which after a furious war. The Kalakeyas started to Attack Arjuna all at once. First Time then Arjuna used the Devine Weapon given by Shiva - The Pashupatha Asthra.

The moment he used it the weapon got divided into Million Arrows and from each arrow it created other weapons like Khadgam, Thomaram, Shulam, Chakram, Gadha etc etc and also from it emerged different wild Animals, Rakshasha, Asura, Bhootha, Preetha etc etc and killed all the 60000 Kalakeyas at once and disappeared back as if nothing happened.

The special part of Arjuna is that he did not use this Ashtra in the 18 days of Kurukshetra War.

From this glorious incident from Mahabharatham - Aranya Parvam we personally have a Favouritism for the Shiva's Pashupatha Asthra.

There other major Asthras too like Naraya Asthra, Bhrama Asthra, Varuna Asthra, Agneya Asthra, Vayuya Asthra, Naga Asthra, Garuda Asthra, Samohana Asthra, Anjalika Asthra etc etc.

Hope we have presented it properly

Hara Hara Maha Deva

Epics of India: Is it really true that we have found Dwarka (City of lord Krishna) ?

 In 2001, Murli Manohar Joshi, the Minister of Human Resource development announced that there have been discovered the ruins of an ancient civilization off the coasts of Gujarat that predate the Indus Valley Civilization. Further descriptions of the site by Joshi describe it as containing regularly spaced dwellings, a granary, a bath, a citadel, and a drainage system.

The National Institute of Ocean Technology was conducting pollution tests and their sonar stumbled upon some regular geometric structures.
A follow-up investigation was conducted by NIOT in 2001 and then again in 2002-03. Artifacts discovered were a piece of wood, pottery sherds and weathered stones claimed to be tools. Artifacts were recovered by means of dredging, including pottery sherds, microliths, wattle and daub remains, and hearth materials.

A few of the artefacts retrieved from the Gulf of Khambat: 1. A piece of wood; 2. A jaw-bone and a tooth; and 3. Semi-precious stones :

"The finds comprise a piece of wood measuring approximately 25 cm in length and 20 cm in diameter, an assortment of pottery sherds, stone pieces presumed to be tools, fossilised bones, and a tooth. Sonar images showed what appeared to be a vast area of regular structures on the sea-bed and a submerged river-bed. No archaeologist, nor diver, has seen the underwater site. No underwater photographs were taken. The artefacts were recovered by a mechanical dredge that trawled large sections of the sea-bed. The decision to dredge the sea-bed was made by the Department of Ocean Development."

The piece of wood was dated at two different labs, the NGRI in Hyderabad returned a date of 7190 BC and the BSIP in Hannover returned a date of 7545-7490 BC. But a single piece of wood does not imply presence of an advanced civilization.

Dr. D.P. Agrawal, chairman of the Paleoclimate Group who is responsible for establishing Carbon-14 laboratories in India states:

"To date a city on the basis of a dredged sample of wood is irresponsible and ridiculous. I have worked with the Paleoclimate Group on the changes in climate over the ages. It is a known fact that during the Ice Age, about 20,000 years ago, the Arabian Sea was 100 metres lower (than its present level). Entire forests are buried beneath the sea in this area. It is not extraordinary to find a piece of wood going back to 7500 B.C. or 5000 B.C. There is no way it can be used as evidence to date this so-called city."

Prof K.V.Raman :

"Most of what I could see were not man-made, they were naturally rolled pebbles. They deceptively look like tools but are not."

The 'excavation' has been accused of not following the standard archaeological procedures. But the findings cannot be altogether ignored. There is absolutely something around there, but it has been taken too enthusiastically. Furthermore, it won't be right to be certain that this was exactly the Dwarka city mentioned in the Mahabharata.

Who are the greatest Asuras of Indian epics?

 The strongest asuras are as follows :

Madhu and kaitabha :

• They are created by Vishnu from two droplets of water
• They covered the entire universe with darkness and stole the vedas from Brahma
• Vishnu slayed them using Vaishnavastra and recreated the three worlds using their corpses .

Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu :

• They both terrorized the universe and defeated everyone except Trimurti
• They were slain by Varaha and Narasimha

Ravana Kumbhakarna :

• They defeated all the gods combined and conquered the three worlds
• They were finally slained by Rama avatar

The end