Overrated characters: who and why?

Who do you think are the most overrated characters in the Mahabharat?

Major and minor characters included

Obvious ones that occur to me:

Shakuni

All the serials, starting w/ this one, made him a larger than life figure. Yet he gets bashed for a lot of things that he had no role in, starting w/ the house of lac. Nor was he constantly poisoning the ears of his nephews.

Also, in the war, while he was one of the 11 akshauni commanders, he was a very mediocre warrior, even if one factors in that he was overshadowed by stalwarts like Bheeshma & Drona: even warriors like Kritavarma and Vrishasena made more impact. Contrary to what this serial showed, he didn't get to fight Sahadev until day 18, since all the Pandavas were busy fighting far more superior warriors. And when he did finally fight Sahadev, the latter made short work of both him and Ulooka (his son): it was nowhere near as close as the serials make it look

Dhrishtadyumna

For the commander of the Pandava army and the counterpart to the likes of Bheeshma, Drona, Karna, Shalya and Ashwatthama, he never won a battle against any of them. Indeed, one of his few victories in the war was against Duryodhan on day 18. Yeah, the contribution and sacrifices of his kingdom to the Pandava war effort was unmatched, but he was way out of his league leading this army

Vidura

This serial showed him as a bhashan champion, yet Vidura was never as anti-Kaurava as depicted in this serial. In fact, when Duryodhan did his Vishmi yagna during the Pandava exile (following the humiliation by the Gandhavas), Vidura was among the main participants in this

Duryodhan

No, he wasn't overrated as a villain. But as a warrior, he definitely was: only warrior he killed in battle was Chekitan. Otherwise, he lost battles to just about everybody - from Bhima to Dhrishtadyumna. For someone who thought that he was entitled to be the emperor, he singularly lacked the skills to enforce his rule on anybody. Yeah, he was the greatest mace fighter, but that didn't seem to do much even for his army. Oh, and Karna had to be the one to help him abduct the princess of Kalinga: even that he couldn't do himself

Ummm Shakuni? He didn't actually have that big an influence on Kuru politics as displayed in serials. He was not the mastermind, but an ally. His importance has been overblown by modern TV shows.

Drona is another one. I know he has a lot of contribution in Mahabharata, but I see him only as a partial and selfish teacher. He had his own agenda behind educating the princes. His putramoh towards Ashwatthama is no less than Dhritarasthra in my opinion, else why would he teach him divine weapons when Ashwatthama did have not the temperament to handle it. He has been glorified way too much in my opinion.

Another one is Yudhisthir ( strictly my opinion). Yes, he was better than Duryodhana as a king but he would not have achieved half of what he did if he didn't have Bhima and Arjuna as brothers. Even in battle, I do not know what his major contribution is except killing Shalya ( that too, I read was a group effort rather than an one on one combat).

No offense to anyone who are fond of these characters.

😊

Ankita, that's the point: that's what overrated means!

Somebody who got more credit than credit was due

I agree w/ you that Yudhisthir was mediocre as a warrior and even wanting in character, but most people - and shows - seem to recognize that as well. So their rating of him is pretty justified.

Even in the killing of Shalya, it was very similar to the killing of Abhimanyu: Bhima, Satyaki, Nakul, Sahadev, Dhrishtadyumna and Shikhandi all helped disarm him before Yudhisthir killed him

How is Yudi overrated: most people I've seen seem to disdain him, even if they acknowledge his dedication to dharam

Are we rating people overrated/underrated just based on their warrior skills??

If not then i don't yudhishtra is overrated at all. I don't like him at all but one cannot deny that he is very important to the story. As much as he needed bheem and arjuna they needed him too. From pandavas side yudhishtra claim to throne was maximum. Plus he was manipulative too he did had a good hold on his brothers .

Originally posted by: .Vrish.

How is Yudi overrated: most people I've seen seem to disdain him, even if they acknowledge his dedication to dharam

Actually my point is that Ved Vyas overrated him. In modern ages people do disdain him, but he is glorified in the epic itself.

That's why I mentioned him.

Originally posted by: .Vrish.

How is Yudi overrated: most people I've seen seem to disdain him, even if they acknowledge his dedication to dharam

Dharmraj

Never lied

Went to swarg

His actions never resulted in punishment due to which TV shows have to change the epic and show how he was forced to stake

His wrongdoings are completely omitted, most people who haven't read Mahabharata think of him as a good man with a bad addiction and timing, who was cheated by Sakuni and didn't get his rights

Karna is overrated too

Now that i think of it. Karna is most overrated character his image of "tragic hero" is exaggerated beyond limit because reading text you get to know what a comfortable life this man lead with a good set of parents ,good education, kingdom provide to him in a gold platter and a friend who genuinely loved him a lot