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Vir Barbreek It is said that before the Mahabharata war Lord Krishna and Arjuna were scouting the area for warriors in the garb of saffron-clad sadhus. They were resting under this tree, when a young athletically-built horse rider accosted them. He told them that he was the grandson of Bhima and his mother had sent him to join the Mahabharata war. He said his mother had directed him to join the losing side and convert defeat into victory through his skill with the bow and arrow. Lord Krishna is said to have asked him to demonstrate his skill. Babreek looked at the huge peepul tree and told them that he could rope all the leaves with a single arrow. He then shot an arrow which began piercing each leaf. |
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According to the folklore, Lord Krishna hid one of the leaves under his foot. The arrow after piercing the leaves began to hover over Lord Krishna’s foot. Babreek then asked him to lift his foot or else the arrow would pierce the foot too. The arrow then collected that leaf and jumped back into Babreek’s quiver. The young warrior’s exceptional skill surprised both Lord Krishna and Arjuna. However,
his insistence that he would side with the loser made them think
deeply. They realised that if Babreek joined the Kauravas he could
single-handedly convert Pandava’s victory into defeat. Lord Krishna
then hit upon an idea. Since he was posing as a sadhu, the lord
asked Babreek for alms. Babreek asked him to name anything that he
could give. The lord asked for his head and got it. However, the lord
told him that in return Babreek would be known as Shyam Baba and that
devout Hindus would worship him forever. |