But there is one unsung hero who was supposedly the greatest warrior in the epic who could have ended the war in 1 minute.
It was before the war of Mahabharata had begun when Barbarik grandson of Bhima and son of Ghatotkach expressed his desire to participate in the war to his mother. His mother asked him which side he wanted to fight for, to which he replied "I will fight only for whichever side is weaker. Right now Kauravas have bigger army than Pandavas so I will fight from Pandavas side." Promising this to his mother he marched towards war camps.
When Krishna heard about Barbarik, he went to meet him. He asked Barbarik, "what do you think if you were to fight alone in how many days you can finish this war?" to this he replied "I can finish this war in 1 minute." Krishna was amazed with his reply and asked him how he plans to do this?
Barbarik explained he has three arrows which he has received from Lord Shiva as boon. Special power of this arrows were that:
1. First arrow would mark all the target that he wanted to destroy.
2. Second arrow would mark all the target he wanted to save.
3. Third arrow would destroy the marked target or save the marked target destroying everything else.
Krishna asked him to show how it works, he asked Barbarik to treat all leaves on a near by Banyan tree as enemy and make a hole on all the leaves. Barbarik immediately pulled his arrow and started invoking his power through meditation, in the meantime Krishna pluck a leave from tree and placed it under his foot.
Barbarik marked all the leaves on tree with his first arrow, marked all other things that he wanted to save and then released third arrow to make hole on leaves, thats when third arrow started hovering near Krishna's foot. Krishna asked Barbarik, why arrow is hovering near his foot to which he replied there must be a leaf under your foot. Krishna lift his foot and arrow pierced hole in that leaf.
Krishna was impressed with his powers and asked him whose side he was planning to fight. He told him about his promise that he would fight from weaker side. Krishna immediately realized that if he participated in the war then on first day he will kill everyone on Kaurava side making them weaker and then he will be forced to join Kaurava next day. Thus he will keep oscillating between the two sides until everyone is killed except himself.
He explained it to Barbarik and asked him to sacrifice his head to avoid the consequences of his powerful arrows. Barbarik agreed but expressed his desire to witness the war. Krishna promised him that even after his head is severed from his body his head will remain in a conscious state and that it would be placed on a hilltop overlooking entire battlefield so that he can witness the war.
After the war was over, one fine day Pandavas started arguing who was the greatest warrior in Kurukshetra? They then decided to approach Barbarik and ask him who was the greatest warrior as he was a neutral witness of the entire war. To this Barbarik replied " I saw only Sudarshan Chakra of Lord Krishna killing unrighteous kings on both sides, it was Krishna and only Krishna on the battlefield."
