Lakshmana

 

How did Lakshman's skills compare to those of Arjuna and Karna? If they all fought together, how would Lakshman fare against them in battle?

This is an interesting question. A comparison of Lakshman to Arjuna and Karna cannot be made because they're not of the same era. However, we can make some interesting comparisons between some characters to know the relative strengths of Lakshman, Arjuna and Karna.

We all know that Lakshman is an incarnation of Sheshnaag, the serpent of the Lord Vishnu. It is extremely powerful and hence Lakshman is also a very powerful Archer and Warrior.

In Dvaparyuga, Krishna is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu and Balaram is the avatar of Sheshnaag. Hence Balaram is very strong and powerful in Dvaparyuga rivaled only by his brother Krishna.

Once Hanuman meets Krishna and Balaram in the forest during Dvaparyuga. Then Balaram challenges Hanuman to a friendly fight/arm wrestling and Hanuman obliges. Hanuman knows about Krishna being an Avatar of Vishnu but he doesn't know about Balaram. He is mildly interested in finding out because his name is Bala Ram which is taken after or similar to the name of Lord Ram.

So Hanuman agrees and finds Balaram is extremely strong just like Lakshman and bears the name of Ram. He understands the connection and realises that he is the incarnation of Sheshnaag just like Lakshman.

So, let's assume Balaram and Lakshman are equals or near equals as they're both incarnations of Sheshnaag.

In the war of Kurukshetra, the brothers Krishna and Balaram vow not to fight because that would tilt the battle in their favour whichever side they pick. Moreover, Balaram is the Guru of Duryodhana and is partial to him, but knows Dharma is on the side of Pandavas. So he knows Krishna would pick Pandavas and that would make him fight his brother, so he chooses to stay away from the fight and leaves for Kashi.

So if Krishna or Balaram chose a side and fought for them, then the war would become one-sided no matter if Arjuna and Karna fought together against Balaram. So by this inference, we can safely say Lakshman would win the battle even if the likes of Arjuna and Karna fought together.

This is only a possible comparison in mind and feel free to comment if you think otherwise. Please upvote if you like my little comparison.