Classification of Warriors by Bhishma in the Mahabharata

Posted by The Editor | Jul 12, 2015 | Articles on Hinduism | 41,021 views

Bhishma, the grandsire of both the Kauravas and the Pandavas, analyzed each warrior on both sides of the battle. He said there are 3 types of warriors. They are the Rathi, the Atirathi and the Maharathi. Based on his judgement and knowledge of the science of weapons he classified every warrior involved in the Mahabharata war. According to him the highest level of a warrior is the Maharathi.

He defined the three classifications as follows:

Rathi: A warrior capable of attacking 5,000 warriors simultaneously.

Atirathi: A warrior capable of contending with 12 Rathi class warriors or 60,000 warriors simultaneously.

Maharathi: A warrior capable of fighting 12 Atirathi class warriors or 720,000 warriors simultaneously, and having complete mastery of all forms of weapons and combat skills.

Classification of Warriors from the Kaurava Side:

Rathis:

Sudhakshina, the ruler of the Kamvojas

Sakuni, King of Gandhar and uncle of Kauravas

Duryodhana’s son Lakshmana and the son of Dushasana

Jayadrath, the king of the Sindhu and brother in law of Kauravas

All 99 brothers of Duryodhana, including Dushasan, are single Rathis

Duryodhana is classified as a warrior equal to 8 Rathis

Atirathis:

Bhoja chief Kritavarman

The ruler of Madras, Salya

Bhurisravas, the son of Somadatta

Kripa, also known as Kripacharya, the son of Saradwat

Maharathis:

Alambhusha, the Chief of Rakshasas

The ruler of Pragjyotisha, the brave Bhagadatta

Vrishasena, the son of Karna,

Guru Drona

Asvathama, the son of guru Drona and the avatar of Lord Shiva. (Even though he was classified as a Maharathi, in reality he was peerless and equal to Lord Shiva in battle according to Bhishma; but the only pre-condition is that Asvathama has to become extremely angry to unleash his full potential.)

Karna is equal to 2 Maharathi.

Bhishma, even though he never classified himself. Later it was revealed that Bhishma was equal to 2 Maharathi warriors.

Classification of Warriors from the Pandava Side:

Rathis:

Uttamaujas

Sikhandi, the son of the king of the Panchalas

Yudishtira the son of Pandu and Kunti, is a Rathi.

Nakul and Sahadeva are single Rathis

Bhima is regarded as equal to 8 Rathis.

Atirathis:

Satyaki of the Vrishni race,

Dhrishtadyumna the son of Drupuda

Kuntibhoja,the maternal uncle of Pandavas

Ghatotkacha, prince of Rakshasas and master of all illusions, son of Bhima and Hidimva.

Maharathis:

Virata King

Drupuda, King of Panchalas

Dhrishtaketu, the son of Sisupala, the king of the Chedis

All sons of Draupadi are Maharathis

Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna is equal to 2 Maharathi.

Arjuna is equal to 2 Maharathi warriors.

18 Comments

Sudarsan on July 12, 2015 at 1:11 pm

Articles are very educative.
Chandra Segaran Nair on July 12, 2015 at 2:27 pm

Thank you for this detailed insight of the very important aspect from Mahabharata.
ramakrishnan on July 12, 2015 at 2:28 pm

very informative
kuppibai on July 12, 2015 at 3:00 pm

really very nice and useful for everybody with easy language. definitely we can able to teach about Bhishma the Pithamagh.
Maah on July 13, 2015 at 12:04 am

Very exciting. Should have mentioned Lord Krishna. too.
MUTGI PRAKASH on July 13, 2015 at 1:19 am

Excellent info. Will definitely share with my circle
BADRINARAYANAN on July 13, 2015 at 1:21 am

Wonderful article.its truly Devine
Muthulakshmi on July 13, 2015 at 2:07 am

Good
Rajan on July 13, 2015 at 4:34 am

good to know all information
CHAKRAPANI RUDRARAJU on July 13, 2015 at 7:18 am

It was excellent to know the classification of warriors by BHISHMA. I had down loaded all the 287 episodes of MAHABHARATHA telecast by VIJAY TV & taken notes. Fascinated by the EPIC. Now reading the MAHABHARATHA by C RAJAGOPALACHARI. Suggest that these EPIC should be prescribed as syllabus for various classes, instead of the NOVELS by britsh.
Suman on July 15, 2015 at 9:36 am

Very nice information…It helps us to attach to divine knowledge
sunny on July 17, 2015 at 10:56 am

excellent information
Srinivasaraghavan on July 18, 2015 at 3:24 pm

very informative and educative.
i liked this article
Hari Padmanabhan on July 25, 2015 at 4:31 am

Everything is true. A fascinating and brilliant article. We can understand Bhishma Pitamaha’s classification of warriors better in the context of modern hi-tech warfare where you have force multipliers and multiple attacking platforms and simultaneous attacking of multiple targets.

The Mahabharat and Ramayana are true accounts of events that really took place.

But Oh ! Where are those magnificent, daring, incredible warriors ?
More than at any other time, Bharatmata needs those heroes desperately and frantically NOW !
Nagaraju on August 26, 2016 at 7:26 pm

Really it is great to know about our Indian battle worriers and Bhishma pitamaha.But there are many politics in Mahabharata.
Dr Boy manuel on September 12, 2016 at 7:13 am

Bhishma pitamah the embodiment of truth,dharma,great scholar in shastras,Vedas,and warfare as he was the students of 3 brilliant teachers- Brahaspathi, surka acharya, and the geat warrior and incarnate lord Parasuraman.He himself self was one among 8 vasus group of Gods in heaven where Indra is the king (I mean devalokam) born as ahuman out of curse more over he got varadan from his father santhanu also God in devalokam born as human that was icha mrithyu He procure the celestial weapon paswathra used by vasus apart from other celestial weapons.He had to forght fiercely with his great teacher Parasuraman when later ordered him to do so . He aimed paswathra against him to counter his gurus mazhu but was stopped by Lord Siva. If he used it that marks the end of his teacher and the whole Bhramandam. Knowing that Lord himself blessed his student telling that infact he won the war hence equal or a step above him. Hence I feel Bhishma can be ranked as mahamaharathi
Dr Boy manuel on September 12, 2016 at 8:47 am

Hope my observation is acceptable
Fateh Singh on March 11, 2017 at 5:59 am

Thank you, but why not reveal the chapter and verse where one may further refer?