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I have following question:-
Krishna wielded the Sudarshan Chakra. At several instances as per Mahabharata and Bhagvatam he used it in front of several people. So, wasn't it clear to everyone that Krishna is indeed Vishnu because, as far as I remember, only Vishnu has the Sudarshan Chakra (maybe apart from Devi) and everyone at that time were aware of Vishnu. So, were all people(specifically in Mahabharat) at that time were aware of Krishna's true identity or just few?
The answer depends on how you define Krishna's reality.
Mahaprabhu Sri Chaitanya says
O Sanatana ! Listen about the sweet form of Krishna. Just one smallest particle of that beauty immerses all the three worlds and attracts all the beings towards Him. (SrimSrimChaitanya Charitamrita).
None except the gopis seem to be aware of that beauty.
On the other hand, the Pandavas and Kunti knew that Krishna was God Himself.But none of them were spiritual aspirants.
The Pandava- Gita however reveals that even Duryodhana knew that Krishna was God but the events of the Mahabharata do not suggest that.
So I think whether the one reading Mahabharata knows the reality or not is the real question, as the mythological characters are beyond perception.
UPDATE
The Sudarshana Chakra is no proof as Paundraka Vasudava, an imposter mentioned in Bhagavatam also used such weapons. When after seeing the Visvarupa at the Rajashava before the war, Duryodhan and his companions were not convinced about Sri Krishna's divinity, how could the chakra convince them? None can by the way have belief without Grace of Sri Krishna (God).All this belief and disbelief are His divine play.
No they were not aware of his reality.
Gita says
BG 7.24: The less intelligent think that I, the Supreme Lord Shree Krishna, was formless earlier and have now assumed this personality. They do not understand the imperishable exalted nature of my personal form.
BG 7.25: I am not manifest to everyone, being veiled by my divine Yogmaya energy. Hence, those without knowledge do not know that I am without birth and changeless.
Commentary
God descends in this world by virtue of His Yogmaya energy and reveals His divine pastimes, His divine abode, His divine bliss and love on the Earth plane. However, the same Yogmaya power keeps His divinity veiled from us. We are unable to feel His presence, although He is seated in our hearts. Even in the present, if we are fortunate enough to see the Lord in His personal-form, we cannot recognize Him. Until we are eligible for His divine vision, the Yogmaya keeps God’s divine form concealed from us. And only by God’s grace, the Yogmaya bestows upon us the divine vision that allows us to recognize and see God.
BG 7.26: O Arjun, I know of the the past, present, and future, and I also know all living beings; but me no one knows.
So only those know about Shri krishna divine reality who were free from Maya.
In Mahabharata, it is described that,
Only a few who had a strong sense of dharma actually realizes the true nature of Krishna, e.g. Bhishma, Droan, Sanjay, Arjun, Vyas, and some others.
Others considered him as a mere mortal, who is only pretending to be a God using his knowledge of Maya. e.g. upon repetitive explanation by Bhishma, Duryodhana never realized the true nature of Krishna.
As of the question of "Sudarshan Chakra", one with flawed dharma may simply consider it as yet another weapon wielded by Krishna, and not the actual Sudarshan Chakra.
I am not particularly sure DURING Mahabharata, but in the Bhagavad Purana (Srimad Bhagavatam), there was a clear awareness in Dvarka of Lord Krishna being Bhagavan.
In chapter 11 of the Bhagavatam, Lord Krishna is returning back to Dvarka, and his citizens are welcoming him:
The citizens arrived before the Lord with their respective presentations, offering them to the fully satisfied and self-sufficient one, who, by His own potency, incessantly supplies others. These presentations were like the offering of a lamp to the sun. Yet the citizens began to speak in ecstatic language to receive the Lord, just as wards welcome their guardian and father.
The citizens said: O Lord, You are worshiped by all demigods like Brahmā, the four Sanas and even the King of heaven. You are the ultimate rest for those who are really aspiring to achieve the highest benefit of life. You are the supreme transcendental Lord, and inevitable time cannot exert its influence upon You.
O creator of the universe, You are our mother, well-wisher, Lord, father, spiritual master and worshippable Deity. By following in Your footsteps we have become successful in every respect. We pray, therefore, that You continue to bless us with Your mercy.
So it is clear to see that Sri Krishna's citizens know that he is Bhagavan, and so I am assuming that at least a few people knew during Mahabharata.
Only few people that too for some time could know that Lord Krishna was God. Rest of times, Lord uses his Yoga Maya to make people forget that he is Lord, and cherishes to perform Lilas with his devotees as Friend, Child, Father, Husband etc. Because if we are everytime aware that he is Supreme Lord, we only tremble with fear and cannot reciprocate love as freely as Yashoda Mai to beat Krishna lightly or Gopis to tease and make fun of him. Bhagavata says -
Mother Yasoda, by the grace of the Lord, could understand the real truth. But then again, the supreme master, by the influence of the internal potency, Yoga-maya, inspired her to become absorbed in intense maternal affection for her son. Immediately forgetting Yoga-Maya’s illusion that Krishna had shown the universal form within His mouth, mother Yasoda took her son on her lap as before, feeling increased affection in her heart for her transcendental child. The glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are studied through the three Vedas, the Upanishads, the literature of Samkhya-yoga, and other Vaishnava literature, yet mother Yasoda considered that Supreme Person her ordinary child.(Srimad Bhagavatam 10.8.43-45)
