After Krishna, who are the top 10 most intelligent characters in the Mahabharata?
1)Sahadeva-
Master of Vedas,poitical science and human ethics.After Krishna,Arjuna and Dristhadyumna, best on Pandava side at military strategy.Declared a prodigy by Kripacharya and Vidur both.Tied down Krishna using his devotion and thus forced him to acknowledge his intelligence too.
Also, ate a portion of his father's dead body that was being carried away by ants.This allowed him to see future, but cursed by Gods never to use his gift as they feared he was intelligent enough to manipulate it.
2)Karna- Said to possess qualities of all Pandavas, so unsurprisingly he had Sahadeva's intelligence.Best Karma-yogi to ever live in Hindu mythology after Lord Rama.
Master of emotions, and due to this he is immune to feelings on the battlefield.Enables him to unleash carnage as not seen under Drona and Bhishma.Also helps him masquerade as Brahmin and adapt to new lifestyle, which he then maintained after his Parashurama tutelage.
Essentially, he had inherent knowledge of Bhagwad Gita as he fought his brothers emotionlessly despite knowing their identity as kin.Strategist of caliber equal to Drona and Bhishma.Krishna acknowledges his prowess in terms of knowledge in human values and ethics, and Bhishma declares him a person who comes once in several lifetimes after his death.Application of his intelligence is seen several times in war and also in his charitable practices and hands-on rule in Anga.
3)Shakuni-Devious but intelligence in terms of strategy must be acknowledged, right ?
4)Yudhisthir- Declared a political science prodigy by Kripacharya. Excelled at understanding human ethics.Extraordinary sense of judgement acknowledged by Gods and his Father in Yaksha Avatar. But as a husband, he was a hypocrite.Idiot as a family man-gambled his brothers and wife.Fit to rule but not to be family head.Which is why he is below Shakuni in my list.
5)Duryodhana- As good as Yudhisthir in political science. In understanding law, he was better.Radical thinker who was somewhat ahead of his time in implementing some aspects- making Karna a ruler, charmed Shalya into fighting for him etc.
But poor at humane thinking and empathy-he accepted Yudhisthir's gambling of his family, and at various junctures he followed letter of the law, but not its spirit.Also not intelligent enough or ethically strong enough to repel Shakuni's ideas.
6)Vidura and Vikarna(one of Kaurava brothers; the one who opposed Draupadi strip)- Excelled at political science, humane thinking and sound judgement to boot.Sadly, fell behind in communicating and not good at convincing others to take action.
7)Drona and Arjuna- Drona was the best military stategist, having knowledge of forbidden military techniques too.Arjuna was excellent at military tactics too, and his prowess made him a 1-man army.
But both were very poor in terms of judgement.
Drona's errors of wisdom:
- he did not quell rivalry between his students in their youth hoping it would make them better warriors!Did not search for Ashwathama himself on learning of his 'demise'.
Arjuna of course just immersed himself in learning archery, not bothering to see if all around him was in accord with dharma.And did not master feelings-necessitating Bhagwad Gita, and also being the cause of most of Draupadi's misery.
8)Abhimanyu- Intelligent beyond his years and a great military tactician.
9)Drishtadyumna, Ashwathama ,Kripacharya, Shalya and Kirtivarman-
Excellent military tacticians.Wise too, but not in league of top 5. In Abhimanyu's league as far as military strategising goes, but much older. Not very good communicators and appliers of principles of ethics so lower in this list.Still, not hypocrites so ahead of some others in this list.
10) Kunti, Bhishma, Gandhari ,Dritrashtra, Vrushali and Draupadi-
Kunti was learned and wise, but unable to handle societal fears.Foolish enough to test mantra and beget Karna.Mentally weak too...could not own up to being his parent for bulk of his lifetime.
Bhishma- Mentally very strong but hypocrite who led to 3 princesses being unmarried.Also failed to opppose Yudhisthir's poor habits or Duryodhana's overt ambition.
Gandhari- Actually a good parent, ahead of her time.Instructed Duryodhana only a few times, and gave just 1 order- to follow law.If only she had said to him to excercise judgement too!
Dritarashtra-Wise but weak in terms of judgement.
Draupadi-Actually very smart and quick thinking, but prideful and quick to take ego blows.
Vrushali-Intelligent wife of Karna.Also Draupadi's earliest friend.She warned her to not return to Hastinapur but she did, and ended up with the Vastra-haran episode. Wise enough to groom her children with Karna in all spheres of knowledge except military training.
I wrote it in single sitting so answer has tapered off.I'll add more details later, I'm tired....
PS- Too little to go on for Madri and Pandu or they would be near the top in this list...and Satyawati etc showed one-time application of cunning so again, to be avoided in discussion.All characters in my list have been scrutinised intensely due to their leading roles in Mahabharata- the politics and the war.
Master of Vedas,poitical science and human ethics.After Krishna,Arjuna and Dristhadyumna, best on Pandava side at military strategy.Declared a prodigy by Kripacharya and Vidur both.Tied down Krishna using his devotion and thus forced him to acknowledge his intelligence too.
Also, ate a portion of his father's dead body that was being carried away by ants.This allowed him to see future, but cursed by Gods never to use his gift as they feared he was intelligent enough to manipulate it.
2)Karna- Said to possess qualities of all Pandavas, so unsurprisingly he had Sahadeva's intelligence.Best Karma-yogi to ever live in Hindu mythology after Lord Rama.
Master of emotions, and due to this he is immune to feelings on the battlefield.Enables him to unleash carnage as not seen under Drona and Bhishma.Also helps him masquerade as Brahmin and adapt to new lifestyle, which he then maintained after his Parashurama tutelage.
Essentially, he had inherent knowledge of Bhagwad Gita as he fought his brothers emotionlessly despite knowing their identity as kin.Strategist of caliber equal to Drona and Bhishma.Krishna acknowledges his prowess in terms of knowledge in human values and ethics, and Bhishma declares him a person who comes once in several lifetimes after his death.Application of his intelligence is seen several times in war and also in his charitable practices and hands-on rule in Anga.
3)Shakuni-Devious but intelligence in terms of strategy must be acknowledged, right ?
4)Yudhisthir- Declared a political science prodigy by Kripacharya. Excelled at understanding human ethics.Extraordinary sense of judgement acknowledged by Gods and his Father in Yaksha Avatar. But as a husband, he was a hypocrite.Idiot as a family man-gambled his brothers and wife.Fit to rule but not to be family head.Which is why he is below Shakuni in my list.
5)Duryodhana- As good as Yudhisthir in political science. In understanding law, he was better.Radical thinker who was somewhat ahead of his time in implementing some aspects- making Karna a ruler, charmed Shalya into fighting for him etc.
But poor at humane thinking and empathy-he accepted Yudhisthir's gambling of his family, and at various junctures he followed letter of the law, but not its spirit.Also not intelligent enough or ethically strong enough to repel Shakuni's ideas.
6)Vidura and Vikarna(one of Kaurava brothers; the one who opposed Draupadi strip)- Excelled at political science, humane thinking and sound judgement to boot.Sadly, fell behind in communicating and not good at convincing others to take action.
7)Drona and Arjuna- Drona was the best military stategist, having knowledge of forbidden military techniques too.Arjuna was excellent at military tactics too, and his prowess made him a 1-man army.
But both were very poor in terms of judgement.
Drona's errors of wisdom:
- he did not quell rivalry between his students in their youth hoping it would make them better warriors!Did not search for Ashwathama himself on learning of his 'demise'.
Arjuna of course just immersed himself in learning archery, not bothering to see if all around him was in accord with dharma.And did not master feelings-necessitating Bhagwad Gita, and also being the cause of most of Draupadi's misery.
8)Abhimanyu- Intelligent beyond his years and a great military tactician.
9)Drishtadyumna, Ashwathama ,Kripacharya, Shalya and Kirtivarman-
Excellent military tacticians.Wise too, but not in league of top 5. In Abhimanyu's league as far as military strategising goes, but much older. Not very good communicators and appliers of principles of ethics so lower in this list.Still, not hypocrites so ahead of some others in this list.
10) Kunti, Bhishma, Gandhari ,Dritrashtra, Vrushali and Draupadi-
Kunti was learned and wise, but unable to handle societal fears.Foolish enough to test mantra and beget Karna.Mentally weak too...could not own up to being his parent for bulk of his lifetime.
Bhishma- Mentally very strong but hypocrite who led to 3 princesses being unmarried.Also failed to opppose Yudhisthir's poor habits or Duryodhana's overt ambition.
Gandhari- Actually a good parent, ahead of her time.Instructed Duryodhana only a few times, and gave just 1 order- to follow law.If only she had said to him to excercise judgement too!
Dritarashtra-Wise but weak in terms of judgement.
Draupadi-Actually very smart and quick thinking, but prideful and quick to take ego blows.
Vrushali-Intelligent wife of Karna.Also Draupadi's earliest friend.She warned her to not return to Hastinapur but she did, and ended up with the Vastra-haran episode. Wise enough to groom her children with Karna in all spheres of knowledge except military training.
I wrote it in single sitting so answer has tapered off.I'll add more details later, I'm tired....
PS- Too little to go on for Madri and Pandu or they would be near the top in this list...and Satyawati etc showed one-time application of cunning so again, to be avoided in discussion.All characters in my list have been scrutinised intensely due to their leading roles in Mahabharata- the politics and the war.
Note: Someone says Shakuni was the top intelligent after Lord Krishna. Even Lord Krishna also praised Shakuni's Talents.
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
A dumbo should have written this article. Shakuni was the most brilliant and intelligent person krishna ever met.
ReplyDeleteI liked your answer but I think after lord krishna shakuni was the most intelligent person..
ReplyDelete