• Know about Parasurama birth, karmas and his interactions with Sri Ram and Sri Krishna.

Parasurama is the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu and is considered an immortal (Chiranjeevi). He was the youngest son of Sage Jamadagni and his Kshatriya wife, Renuka. Thus he had the qualities of both a Brahmin and a Kshatriya.

There is an interesting story behind his birth. King Gadhi had a daughter, Satyavati. She was married to a Brahmin, Sage Ruchika, who belonged to the lineage of Sage Brugu. Both King Gadhi and Sage Ruchika had no sons. So Gadhi’s wife and daughter asked Ruchika to help them realise their wishes. 

Accordingly, he prepared two pots of prasad sanctified with mantras. One was meant for the king’s wife and the other, for her daughter, Satyavati. The mother thought that Ruchika must have made something special for his wife, Satyavati, and exchanged the prasad with her daughter. But Sage Ruchika came to know this. He had prepared the prasad in such a way that Satyavati’s son would become a great saint, while her mother would have a son possessing the qualities of a great warrior king. He explained all this to Satyavati. She asked for his forgiveness and said that she wanted her son to be a saint. 

But Ruchika said that what had happened could not be undone— he could only shift the effect of the mantras by a generation. He said that her son would be a great sage, while her grandson would be a great warrior. Sage Jamadagni was born to Satyavati and his son was Parasurama. Satyavati’s mother gave birth to Sage Viswamitra. 

This article was first published in the Bhavan Journal.

Since he was the grandson of Sage Brugu, Parasurama’s original name was Bhargava Rama. He was born on Vaishakha Tritiya (Akshaya Tritiya), which is celebrated as Parasurama Jayanti. Lord Vishnu had taken the avatar of Parasurama at the request of Goddess Earth (Bhumi Devi) to annihilate the arrogant Kshatriyas and restore peace on earth. 

He was a student of Sage Viswamitra, who was his uncle, and received training in handling weapons. He worshipped Lord Siva and obtained divine weapons, including an axe (Parasu). So he is called Parasurama, meaning ‘Rama with an axe’. 

Parasurama was the strongest, the wisest and the bravest of all the brothers. Even as a child, he displayed eka-shruti dhara, meaning ‘a person with unmatched retentive power’. He mastered all the Vedas and other Vidyas, as well as science and astrology. At the same time, he was also interested in weaponry. 

While his father regarded peace as precious, Parasurama was against injustice and social oppression and wanted tyrants to be destroyed.

Beheading his Mother 

Once, Sage Jamadagni asked his wife Renuka to fetch water from the river for performing his usual rituals. She went to the river where she saw Apsaras and Gandharvas having a wonderful time together. Seeing this, she longed to enjoy a life of luxury like them and forgot about the water. However, after a while she returned with the water. But Jamadagni, with his divine powers, saw what had happened. He was angered because she had had unchaste thoughts and ordered his older sons to behead their mother. They refused to do so because of their affection for her. Parasurama was away at the time. When he returned, his father gave him the same order. Parasurama acted as told without hesitation. Jamadagni, impressed with his son’s obedience, told him to ask for a boon. Parasurama asked his father to bring his mother back to life again. Jamadagni granted the boon. 

The Annihilation of Kshatriyas

During Treta Yuga—the time of Parasurama—the Kshatriyas considered themselves superior to all others. They became tyrannical and created havoc all over the world. One of them was Kartaviryarjuna, the king of Haihayas. He neglected his people, who were suffering, while he enjoyed a lavish life. One day Kartaviryarjuna visited the hermitage of Sage Jamadagni, with thousands of soldiers, and without giving any notice of his arrival. The sage provided food and shelter for all, which surprised the king. When he questioned the sage about this, the latter said that he had a divine cow, Surabhi (the daughter of Kamadhenu), which offered him whatever he needed.

The king wanted the sage to hand over the cow to him, but the sage refused. So the king beheaded the sage and took away the cow. It is said that the king’s soldiers cut the body of the sage into 21 pieces. When Parasurama came home, his mother told him what had happened in his absence. His first reaction was grief, which then transformed into rage. 

Parasurama vowed, “I will wipe out all these oppressors and looters, and I will do it 21 times.” Parasurama destroyed the entire army of Kartaviryarjuna. He then challenged the king who had 1000 hands. The king shot arrows at the sage, using all his hands. But Parasurama, using his divine axe, broke all the bows. Finally, he cut off the head of his enemy. Thus, Kartaviryarjuna was destined to die at the hands of the Lord. 

With his strong military acumen and ability to wield weapons skilfully, Parasurama killed the other Kshatriyas who opposed him except those belonging to the lineage of Manu and Ikshvaku. According to the Sangraha Parva, he created five pools from the blood of the Kshatriyas he had killed.

The five pools were collectively known as Samanta Panchaka. Parasurama performed the funeral rites of his father at this holy spot. The Pandavas, too, performed their religious rites near Samanta Panchaka before the start of the Mahabharata war. Having rid the Earth of all the abusive and evil rulers as well as their cronies, Parasurama performed the Ashwamedha Yagna.

Once Parasurama went to Kailas to meet Lord Siva, but Ganesha stopped him. Parasurama became furious and threw his axe at Ganesha. Since the axe had been given by Lord Siva, Ganesha, out of respect for his father, allowed it to cut a part of his left tusk. This is why he is called Ekadanta. Ganesha later returned the axe to Parasurama and blessed him.

Sri Rama and Parasurama

Years later, Parasurama (who was immortal) visited Janaka, the king of Videha. The sage gave the king a divine bow, which he had received from Lord Siva. The king used the bow for Sita’s swayamvar. As a test of worthiness, suitors were asked to lift the bow and string it. Only Sri Rama succeeded, but in the process of being strung, the bow broke. Since Sri Rama had damaged the bow of Lord Siva, Parasurama had a confrontation with him. But he soon realised that Sri Rama, like him (Parasurama), was an avatar of Lord Vishnu.

The Mahabharata

Parasurama appeared again in the Dwapara Yuga during the time of the Mahabharata. He taught the art of war to Dronacharya and some others. Karna lied to his teacher Parasurama, saying that he was a Brahmin because he had wanted to learn the art of fighting with weapons. When Parasurama found out that Karna was a Kshatritya, he cursed that he (Karna) would forget the mantra required for invoking the Brahmastra weapon at the time he needed it the most. This was why Karna was unable to use the Brahmastra against Arjuna at the crucial hour during the Mahabharata war.

Lord Krishna met Parasurama at the hermitage of Sage Sandipini, where Krishna served him with devotion. Later, Parasurama gave Krishna the Sudarshana Chakra, the most powerful weapon. Parasurama had got it from Varuna, who had received it from Agni, who in turn, had got it from Lord Vishnu.

Parasurama Kshetra

After destroying the Kshatriya kings, Parasurama approached the assembly of learned men to find a way to atone for his sins. They advised him to hand over the lands he had conquered to the Brahmins He was advised to sit in meditation at Gokarnam (now in Karnataka). From Gokarnam he threw his axe southwards, across the ocean, and the sea water (personified as Lord Varuna) receded as far as it reached.

This reclaimed land extended from Gokarnam to Kanyakumari and was called Parasurama Kshetra, a name that now refers to modern-day Kerala. Parasurama brought 64 Brahmin families from the North to Kerala and gifted this land to them. There are many temples dedicated to Parasurama across India: at Thiruvallam near Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, at Rajampet in Andhra Pradesh, at Mahurgad in Maharashtra’s Nanded district, and at Parasurama village near Chiplun in Maharashtra. 

There are seven temples dedicated to the sage, collectively known as ‘Parasurama Kshetras’, in coastal Karnataka. Parasurama Kund, a holy lake believed to have been created by the sage, is located in Lohit district, Arunachal Pradesh. 

Parasurama, though a Brahmin, was believed to have rajasik and tamasik qualities which led to anger, revenge and violence, but they were also used to fight tyranny and establish social justice.

This article was first published in the Bhavan’s Journal, November 1, 2024   issue. This article is courtesy and copyright Bhavan’s Journal, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai-400007. eSamskriti has obtained permission from Bhavan’s Journal to share. Do subscribe to the Bhavan’s Journal – it is very good.