Barbareek's story in Mahabharata

Barbareek was the son of Ghatotkach and Maurvi. Both his parents were excellent warriors and
great sorcerers and thus Barbareek was a blessed and special child. He was mentored by Lord
Krishna himself. When Barbareek was in his teens, he found a Yogi who had acquired great
powers and he became his disciple. The great Yogi taught him all that he knew and Barbareek
soon became a mighty warrior and defeating him was almost impossible. Finally he acquired 3
arrows from Agni that possessed power to wipe out an entire race. Thus armed Barbareek was
invincible and could end any war in matter of few minutes. But Alas! Here comes the twist.
As gurudakshina, his Guru asked for an oath from him that said, Barbareek would always
support the losing and weak side in a war!
When Mahabharata war was about to start, Barbareek wanted to join the Pandavas. He had two
strong reasons to do so. One, Bheem was his paternal grandfather and two, Pandavas were
relatively weaker than Kauravas. However Pandavas were in a fix. Having Barbareek on their
side was a risky affair. He would switch sides as soon as Kaurava army would begin to lose, as
per his oath. And so they sought Krishna's help. Krishna said to Barbareek, "you should have
thought carefully before giving your word. This is such a silly oath. Because if you keep switching
sides like this, you will destroy entire Kaurava-Pandava army and be left alone amidst the
corpses". Barbareek did realise his mistake but it was too late and he couldn't go back on his
words and neither was he ready to be a spectator in the great war. And so, Krishna (being his
mentor) asked for his "head" as gurudakshina. Barbareek readily agreed and obliged. However
he had this intense desire to see the great war. So Krishna kept his head alive and placed it on an
altar atop a hill from where Kurukshetra was perceptible. He was renamed as Mahatma
Barbareek for his great sacrifice.
Post war, Barbareek was asked who was the greatest warrior in the war and he said, "I didn't see
anyone except Krishna. Those who were killed were also Krishna and those who were killing
were also Krishna. I only saw Krishna's sudarshana." The wisdom of Barbareek's words
contained the essence of Gita.
Krishna then fused his head and body together and blessed him that in Kaliyuga he would be
known and worshipped after Krishna's name and anyone who will worship him with piety will
be blessed by the Lord himself. Thus Barbareek was renamed Khatu Shyam and there's a temple
devoted to him in Rajasthan where devotees still seek the blessings of this warrior who never
fought any war.