Who was the most powerful warrior in the Mahabharata? Krishna was the most skilled at war strategy; but who tipped the scales when it came to might, Bheeshma, Arjuna, Karna or someone else?

 I saw many of th answers but not all ot them are accurate, so I decided to answer the most accurate answer.

10. JAYADRATHA

*SURPRISED ?*

He was the one responsible for ambhimanyu's death, and lets not forget he had given boon by lord Shiva that he can't be killed by anyone except combination of arjuna and krishna.

It was impossible to kill him because of the boon also given by his father Vriddhakshatra.

9. Abhimanyu

He was Youngest warrior in mahabharata

He was only 33 years old when he died compared to other warriors who were 100+

Full armed Abhimanyu was impossible to be killed

He was son of chandra (moon)

So karna, jayadratha, aswathhama,kripacharya broke his armor and was killed in chakravyu

8. Ghatotkacha

He was Half human and half rakhsasha. Ghatotkacha was invincible because of his huge body and power

So instead of using shakti astra on Arjuna given by lord Indra to karna, karna used this astra to kill him. When he fell down after being killed, he took entire army behind him by falling on them.

7. Duryodhana

His whole body was of stone except his waist area everyone knows why

He was one of the greatest mace warrior on earth

He was strongest of all kauravas and he was still alive for 3 days after all bones being shattered by bheema.

6. Aswathhama

It is believed that he is avtar of lord shiva

He is immortal because of curse given by shri krishna that he will live for 5000 years on earth

He also killed all uppa pandavas (not in war)

He is also responsible for abhimanyu’s death

Being son of drona and avtar of shiva and immortal he was impossible to defeat.

5. Bheema

There can be tie between aswathama and bheem.

Bheem was spiritual son of vayu god and half brother of lord hanuman

He had most kills in the war and he also killed all 100 kauravas .

He was incredibly strong, he also had power of 10,000 elephants given by serpent king vasuki

4. Arjuna

Here comes one of the greatest archer to be ever born on earth.

He was spritual son of lord indra and had bow named (gandiva) given by lord indra.

His charioteer was the god sri krishna himself 8th avatar of god of universe sri vishnu

But remember he was victorious only because of sri krishna or else pandavas would be defeated

3. Dronacharya

As i said pandavas only won because of sri krishna

Power of drona is much more than arjuna

He was 3rd incarnation of lord brahma and teacher of pandava and kaurvas.

Full armoured drona was impossible to be killed

he had sword name (asi) given by lord brahma

He also had knowledge of all three astras- brahmastra, pashupatastra , narayanastra

He was killed by cheating or kauravas would have surely won.

2. Karna

Here comes the greatest man who ever lived on earth

Karna was spiritual son of surya (sun god)

He was given armour (kavach n kundal) given by sun god which was attached to his skin at the time of birth

his armour was taken by lord indra but then also he fought vigorously. Imagine with armour he would be impossible to be killed

He was disciple of lord parshurama and had curse given by him that he will forget all his knowledge at the time of use.

He was insulted by everyone because of being sutputra (later found that he was not sutputra but eldest of all pandavas) he lived his life only because of duryodhana his best freind.

1. Bheeshma

Bheeshma was immortal because of boon given by his father shantanu of ‘ichha mrytu” (he can only die if he is willing to)

Bheeshma was son of goddess ganga.

The power of parshurama (7th incarnation of vishnu) and bishma was same. He was also disciple of parshurama

It was so hard to defeat him that lord krishna who became charioteer of arjuna, have to himself take out the wheel of chariot to kill him (because he vowed before war that he will not use any weapon to kill anybody nor he will kill anyone) so he broke that vow.

Arjuna and shikandi penetrated 130 arrows in his body still he was alive because of boon. he knew that he was at side of adharma (sin) so refused to fight and died after 58 days of war when parikshit (son of abhimanyu) was declared as new king.

Was Lord Rama really the greatest warrior ever born? Who is the warrior who can defeat him?

 Just reading the Yuddha Kanda, one can understand why Lord Krishna while describing excellent amongst all, said he is Rama among the weiders of weapon:

पवन: पवतामस्मि राम: शस्त्रभृतामहम् |
झषाणां मकरश्चास्मि स्रोतसामस्मि जाह्नवी || B.G 10 : 31||

Amongst purifiers I am the wind, and amongst wielders of weapons I am Lord Ram. Of water creatures I am the crocodile, and of flowing rivers I am the Ganges.

Sri Rama singlehandedly killed ten thousand chariot warriors, eighteen thousand elephants, fourteen thousand horses and two lacs foot soliders, in span of 3 hours:

Within a matter of three hours, with his arrows looking like tongues of flames, Rama killed an army of demons, capable of changing their form at will, including ten thousands chariots possessing the swiftness of the wind, eighteen thousand strong elephants, fourteen thousand horses with their riders and a full two lacs of demons fighting on foot.

When Rama was fighting, rakshasha could not even see Sri Rama, because of his swiftness in martial arts. So swift was Rama in fighting skill, that rakshhasha were confused and started to kill one another:

Those highly terrific demons dared not approach Rama, having entered their ranks, was scorching them with the flame of his arrows, even as clouds would not approach the scorching sun in the sky.

One Rama appeared to be 1000, when rakshasha saw him because of his swiftness of killing. One moment they see Rama, one moment they get killed, such was their condition:

Those demons for their part saw thousands of Rama's in the battle-field, while at other times, they saw only one Rama in that great battle.

No one in the entire epics has ever fought fiercely like Sri Rama! Such momentum he had, such force he had, that through one arrow he was able to tear 7 sal trees apart:

The golden arrow released by the mighty Rama perforated all the seven sala trees, and even the levelled areas of mountain, and then entered the earth.

He destroyed 14000 rakshashas including Khara and Dushana, single handedly:

There were fourteen thousand rakshasas who were terrible in their valour. A single one on foot slew them with sharp arrows, together with Khara and Dushana, within the space of one-and-a-half muhurtas

Rama and lakshmana together wiped out 1/3rd army of rakhasas on day one completely at night time .

Rama and Lakshmana killed the foremost of the demons, both those who were visible and those who were invisible, with their arrows resembling venomous snakes.

Rama the great warrior, merely within an instant, made the quarters and the intermediate quarters, clear of all the demons, by his arrows resembling flames of fire.

When Indra’s son Jayanta(in crow form) in lust was pecking on Mata Sita,seeing his dear wife in pain Lord Rama threw the grass blade to Jayanta, turning it to Brahmastra.

Shri Rama defeated Ravana during their 1st encounter and spared his life :

In that battle-field, Rama said to that Lord of Demons whose splendour was dimmed, the setting of his diadem river, who resembled a venomous snake robbed of its poison or like a sun its rays extinguished, bereft of lustre.

"You have accomplished a highly terrific great feat and my brave soldiers have succumbed beneath your blows. Now, you are weary and in this condition, I shall not put you under the clutches of Death."

Sri Rama’s arrow made ocean tremble:

The great jerk of water with fishes and alligators of the ocean, together with the resonance of the wind became very much dreadful.

Immediately that great ocean, became shaken by the cluster of huge waves enveloped by a multitude of conches in its rolling waves and a smoke came out

Sri Rama was capable of destroying all worlds together, and was also capable of creating the world in same manner as before:

"The renowned Rama is capable of totally destroying all the worlds together with its five elements, along with its animate and inanimate things and also to create yet again all the worlds in like manner as before."

Lord Hanuman says neither Lord Brahma nor Rudra nor Indra can protect someone from Rama in the battlefield:

Either Brahma the self-existing god with four faces or Rudra with three eyes and the destroyer of Tripura (the city built of gold, silver and iron in the sky, air and earth, by Maya for the demons and burnt by Shiva), or Mahendra the god of atmosphere and sky as also the lord of celestials would not be able to protect the one to be killed by Rama in battle."

So, there in every kanda you will find the reason why Sri Rama is greatest warrior to be ever born.

About defeat, no one can defeat Lord Rama. Sri Rama himself says, only Mahadev is his equal:

Then, the virtuous Rama spoke also to Sugreeva, Vibhishana, Hanuma the monkey, Jambavan, Mainda the foremost of monkeys and even Dvivida, who were in close proximity to him as follows "Such wonderful power of this missile exists either with me or with the three-eyed Rudra the lord of destruction."

Siyavar Ramachandra ki Jaya!

Who was the oldest and youngest warrior (by age) to participate in the Kurukshetra War?

 OLDEST WARRIOR :-

• BAHLIKA - Bahlika is one of the oldest warrior in Kurukshetra. He is the elder brother of King Shantanu and paternal uncle of Bhishma Pitamah. He fought for the Kauravas and died at the hands of Bhima on 14th night battle.

• BHAGADATTA - Bhagadatta is undoubtedly the most eldest warrior participated in Kurukshetra war. He is the mighty son of Demon Narakasura and grandson of Lord Varaha. He is very old that he has to tie the headband on his forehead so that his skinfolds on his forehead won't obstruct his vision. He sided with Kauravas to take revenge for his father Naraka’s death and also his alliance with Kuru Kingdom after defeated by Karna in the latter's Digvijay Yatra. He is killed by Arjuna on 12th day war.

• KRITAVARMA - Kritavarma is the mighty Yadava warrior who fought for Kauravas as the commander of Narayana sena. Kritavarma is the eldest brother of Devamidha (Great Grandfather of Shri Krishna). He is one of the survivors in Kurukshetra war. He is killed by Satyaki in Mausala Genocide.

YOUNGEST WARRIOR :- I think Arjuna and Drupadi’s son Shrutakarma is the Youngest Warrior in Kurukshetra War as he born after Arjuna's celibacy exile.

Between Ashwathama and Karna, who is the better warrior?

 Both warriors were inconsistent and usually equal in terms of capabilities. But on an overall performance. Karna scores higher!

Points for my reasoning.

1. Karna might have slightly more defeats, but he also had far more victories.
2. He conquered the whole world, which is specifically mentioned in BORI CE as well.
3. He also defeated the entire might of the Bharatha Kings in the Kalinga swayambara. Thousands of kings from all over the world were casually defeated.
4. Ashvathma arguably performed better than Karna in Virata war. But at the end of the day, they both lost the overall battle.
5. Other than that, we don’t see Ashthama in a lot of action. He mostly remains neutral. So it’s hard to gauge his power before the Kurukshetra war.

Now in Kurukshetra war. There was one day where Ashvathma completely dominated the battle. On the 15th day.

Pandavas including Arjuna were dominated by Drona’s son, who remained unvanquished in battle.

But karna dominated both the 16th and the 17th day, as well as the 14th night.

• On the 16th day of the battle.

He possibly defeated Arjuna and the other Pandavas once and then he defeated them again infront of Arjuna while simultaneously fighting him.

Having severed Hardikya’s bow and standard and killed his horses, he cut down Duhshasana’s supreme bow and attacked Radheya. At this, Karna abandoned Satyaki and struck Arjuna with three arrows. He then pierced Krishna with twenty arrows and struck Partha with three more. However, Satyaki advanced against Karna and pierced him with sharp arrows, first with ninety-nine fierce arrows and yet again with one hundred. All the foremost among the Pandus oppressed Karna—Yudhamanyu, Shikhandi, Droupadi’s sons, the Prabhadrakas, Uttamouja, Yuyutsu, the twins and Parshata.

The Chedis, Karushas, Matsyas, Kekayas and their armies, the powerful Chekitana and Dharmaraja, excellent in his vows—these rathas, horses, elephants and foot soldiers who were fierce in their valour—surrounded Karna in that battle and released many kinds of weapons. All of them devoted themselves to killing Karna and addressed him in fierce and eloquent words. Karna used his sharp arrows to cut down those numerous showers of weapons. He destroyed all of them, like a wind breaks down trees. One saw Karna angrily use his storm of arrows to destroy rathas, elephants and their riders, horses and their riders. The Pandu forces were slaughtered by Karna’s energy. Most of them lost their weapons and their bodies were wounded. They retreated.

Source- karna Parva critical edition of Mahabharata.

He was the only one who was stated to be capable of countering Ghatotkacha in a night battle.

Granted Ashvathma did great against Ghatotkacha and defeated him, but Karna thrashed Ghatotkacha and defeated him several times. Caught his Rudra vajra with bare hands.

He aka defeated every single Pandava Maharatha and could have easily killed Yuddhistira and ended the war on the 17th day.

• He has also made Arjuna retreat from the battlefield. Something Ashvathma hasn't been able to do.

‘ “At this, Kunti’s son, Dhananjaya, spoke to Vasudeva. ‘Behold the extremely terrible bhargava weapon. O Krishna! O mighty-armed one! Behold the valour of the bhargava weapon.

There is no means of countering that weapon in a battle. O Krishna! Behold the angry son of a suta in the great battle. The brave one is like Yama and has performed a terrible deed. He is repeatedly casting extremely terrible glances towards me. I do not see any means of running away from Karna in this battle. If a man remains alive in a battle, there may be victory, or there may be defeat.

O Hrishikesha! For the sake of victory, how can one be victorious if one is dead?’ O venerable one! Janardana wished to leave to see Yudhishthira and thought that Karna would be overcome with exhaustion in the battle.

Karna Parva critical edition of Mahabharata.

As for Astras. Both were master of all the Brahma weapons. Both possessed the Brahmashira weapon, so that point is mute.

Ashvathma had the edge with his Narayana weapon, but it can only be used once and it can be countered if a warrior simply surrenders.

But even if all of this is ignored, there’s a direct answer on why Ashvathama despite having immense potential never managed to achieve many great feats. It’s his lack of control.

He used a supreme weapon in battle like Narayana astra in battle, infact he dared to use another supreme weapon aka the Brahmashira missile on pregnant women.

Warriors like Karna and Arjuna did use astras on warriors in battle. Arjuna previously used the Vajra on soldiers, Karna used the Brahmastra. But they still never used it on innocent people, only in war and out of desperation.

Karna while brash, kept his weapons under control and steadied his mind. Which is what allowed him to counter all of Arjuna's weapons in his final battle.

He performed so well thT even Shree Krishna offered his sudarshana chakra to Arjuna after looking at Karna's performance.

Near the end of the battle. Arjuna's weapons were exhausted in battle and he was afflicted by Karna's weapons.

If Ashvathma learned to control himself, then he probably would have been better than both Arjuna and Karna. But this brash behaviour led to his downgrade.

Ashvathma started out better but Karna eventually surpassed him. The feats clearly reflect the overall growth.

Hence Karna proved himself to be the better warrior. Over time Karna learned to be better, and by the end ofwhile Ashvathama did not.