SAGE PARASURAMA

SAGE  PARASURAMA

Sage Parasurama is one of the greatest sages of ancient India who is unforgettable!  He was the son of King Ghadhi of the clan of Pururava! Gadhi had only a daughter married to a brahmin by name Ruchika who was pious and powerful. Ruchika wanted to help Gadhi in getting a son. Ruchika himself desired a son and kept sacred water in two pots, one for Gadhi’s wife and another for his wife Satyavati. But by a strange stroke of destiny the water in the pots were exchanged and Satyavati had a son who was the epitome of saintliness and satwa guna! He later flowered into the famous sage Jamadagni! Jamadagni married Renuka and had five sons of whom (Parasu) Rama was the youngest. The life of Parasurama is quite interesting. Though a brahmin by birth he had warlike qualities of a Kshatriya! Being considered as the sixth avatar of  Lord Vishnu, Parasurama lived in the last part of Treta Yuga and DwaparaYuga and is reckoned as one of the chiranjivis! It is said that he received the famous Axe-parasu from Lord Siva after a terrible penance! It is also believed that Lord Siva taught him Kalaripayattu the mother of all martial arts!

On one occasion, the Haihaya king Kartaviryarjuna happened to visit Jamadagn’s ashram with his train. Jamadagni feasted them with the help of the holy cow Kamadhenu gifted to him by Indra. Growing envious, the king’s followers stole the cow, in spite of objection, after beating up the sage! In terrible anger at this unholy act, Parasurama, after his return to the ashram, killed many sons of Kartaviryarjuna. To avenge the death of their father, a few of the king’s sons beheaded Jamadagni and took away his head! Later Parasurama chopped off all the king’s thousand hands and killed him! Enraged Parasurama, vowed to decimate all the Kshatriyas twenty one times and offer tharpanam to his father in blood. This blood is believed to have filled five lakes called “Samanthaka Panchaka”! It is said that Indrajit and Parasurama are the only owners of Brahmandastra, Vaishnava and Pasupatastras! Parasurama is believed to have saved Konkan and Kerala from the advancing sea! Lord Siva once tried to test his student Parasurama in fight! In the severe fight, protecting himself, Parasurama inflicted a severe wound on the forehead of the Lord! Siva cherished the wound and from that day he was called “Khanda Parasu”.

Young Parasurama exemplified implicit obedience to his father Jamadagni. On an occasion, Renuka, Jamadagni’s wife,who used to bring water in an unbaked earthen pot, arrived late at her home. She spent a few minutes admiring the beauty of Chitrasena, a Gandharva who happened to come to the lake! Sensing this through his spiritual powers, Jamadagni grew angry  and ordered his sons to kill her! When they refused, he turned them into stones! Obeying his father implicitly, Parasurama beheaded his mother! Pleased with his son, Jamadagni offered him two boons. Parasurama got back his mother with one boon and with the other his other four brothers! He went to the Himalayas and performed severe penance. He visited a number of shrines, performed many Aswamedha Yagas and conquered many Kingdoms. But he finally gave away everything to sage Kasyapa! It is interesting to note that Parasurama is the mentor  of the illustrious warriors Bhishma, Drona and Karna of Mahabharatha!

Parasurama fought with his own student Bhishma when Amba sought his help to persuade Bhishma to marry her! Having taken the oath of celibacy, Bhishma would not marry her! The fight ended to the great disappointment of Amba! To a great extent Parasurama was responsible for the downfall and miserable plight of Karna at the end of the Mahabharatha war! Karna had disguised himself as a brahmin to learn archery from him. While Parasurama relaxed with his head on the lap of Karna, Indra, as a beetle, drilled into Karna's lap and it bled profusely! Parasurama woke up and wondering at his student’s endurance demanded the truth! Knowing that Karna had lied, Parasurama cursed that Karna would forget whatever he had learnt from him at the crucial moment of his life! It was at that point of time, Arjuna, goaded by Krishna, killed Karna at the end of the Kurukshetra war!

In his travels, after killing various Kings to avenge his father’s death, Parasurama happened to meet Dasaratha who was returning with Sri Rama after his wedding at Mithila! He challenged Sri Rama to aim with the Vishnu bow offered to him by Indra! King Dasaratha trembled in fear! Sri Rama remained calm, and took the great bow even as he drained away the strength of the warrior Brahmin Parasurama! It was the fag end of the avatar of Parasurama! He realized it soon and blessing Sri Rama and others left for penance once again! Thus the life of this avatar was very eventful, interesting, and incredible!