Parashurama (Sanskrit: परशुराम, IAST: Paraśurāma,
lit. Rama with an axe), also referred to as Rama Jamadagnya, Rama
Bhargava and Veerarama, is the sixth avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism and he is
one of the Chiranjeevis (long-lived
ones or immortal ones), who will appear at the end of the Kali yuga to be
the guru of Vishnu's tenth and last avatar, Kalki. He carried a number
of traits, which included aggression, warfare and valor; also, serenity,
prudence and patience.
Born to Jamadagni and Renuka, Parashurama was foretold
to appear at a time when overwhelming evil prevailed on the earth. The Kshatriya class,
with weapons and power, had begun to abuse their power, take what belonged to
others by force and tyrannise people. Parashurama corrects the cosmic
equilibrium by destroying these Kshatriya warriors. He is married to Dharani,
an incarnation of Lakshmi, the wife of
Vishnu. He is also the Guru of Bhishma, Dronacharya and Karna.
LEGEND
According to Hindu legends, Parashurama was
born to Sage Jamadagni and his
Kshatriya wife, Renuka, living in a hut.
His birthplace is believed to be on top of the Janapav hills
in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. On
top of the hills is a Shiva temple where
Parshurama is believed to have worshipped Lord Shiva, the
ashram (abbey) is known as Jamadagni Ashram, named after his father. The place
also has a kund (pond) that is being developed by the state government.
They had a celestial cow called Surabhi, which gives all
they desire (Surabhi was the daughter of cow kamadhenu). A
king named Kartavirya Arjuna (not
to be confused with Arjuna the
Pandava) – learns about it and wants it. He asks Jamadagni to give it to
him, but the sage refuses. While Parashurama is away from the hut, the king
takes it by force. Parashurama learns about this crime, and is upset. With
his axe in his hand, he challenges the king to battle. They fight, and
Parushama defeats the king, according to the Hindu history. The warrior class
challenges him, and he defeats all his challengers. The legend likely has roots
in the ancient conflict between the Brahmin varna, with
knowledge duties, and the Kshatriya varna, with warrior and enforcement roles.
In some versions of the legend, after his
martial exploits, Parashurama returns to his sage father with the Surabhi cow
and tells him about the battles he had to fight. The sage does not congratulate
Parashurama but reprimands him stating that a Brahmin should never kill a king.
He asks him to expiate his sin by going on pilgrimage. After Parashurama
returns from a pilgrimage, he is told that while he was away, his father was
defeated by warriors seeking revenge. Parashurama again picks up his axe and
defeats many warriors in retaliation. In the end, he relinquishes his weapons
and takes up Yoga.
In Kannada folklore, especially in devotional songs sung by the Devdasis he is often referred to as a son of Yellamma.
Parasurama legends are
notable for their discussion of violence, the cycles of retaliations, the
impulse of krodha (anger), the inappropriateness of krodha,
and repentance.
Parasurama and origin of western coast (Konkan)
There are legends dealing with the origins of
the western coast geographically and culturally. One such legend is the
retrieval of the West Coast from the sea, by Parasurama, a warrior sage. It
proclaims that Parasurama, an Avatar of Mahavishnu, threw His
battle axe into the sea. As a result, the land of the Western coast arose, and
thus was reclaimed from the waters. The place from which he threw his axe ( or
shot an arrow) is on Salher fort ( the second highest peak and the highest fort
in Maharashtra) in the Baglan taluka of Nashik district of Maharashtra. There
is a temple on the summit of this fort dedicated to Parshuram and there are
footprints in the rock 4 times the size of normal humans. This fort on a lower
plateau has a temple of goddess Renuka, Parshuram's mother and also a Yagya
Kunda with pits for poles to erect a shamiyana on the banks of a big water
tank.
In present-day Goa (or Gomantak), which is a part of the Konkan,
there is a temple in Canacona in South Goa district dedicated to Lord
Parshuram.
He is generally presented as the fifth son of
Renuka and rishi (seer) Jamadagni,
states Thomas E Donaldson. The legends of Parashurama appear in many Hindu
texts, in different versions:
· In
Chapter 6 of the Devi Bhagavata Purana,
he is born from the thigh with intense light surrounding him that blinds all
warriors, who then repent their evil ways and promise to lead a moral life if
their eyesight is restored. The boy grants them the boon.
· In
Chapter 4 of the Vishnu Purana,
Rcika prepares a meal for two women, one simple, and another with ingredients
that if eaten would cause the woman to conceive a son with martial powers. The
latter is accidentally eaten by Renuka, and she then gives birth to
Parashurama.
· In
Chapter 2 of the Vayu Purana, he
is born after his mother Renuka eats a sacrificial offering made to both Rudra (Shiva) and Vishnu, which gives him
dual characteristics of Kshatriya and Brahmin.
Parashurama is described in some versions of
the Mahabharata as
the angry Brahmin who with his axe, defeated a huge number of Kshatriya
warriors because they were abusing their power. In some versions, he even
kills his own mother because his father asks him to and because to take his
test obeisance towards his parents. After Parasurama obeys his father's order
to kill his mother, his father grants him a boon. Parasurama asks for the
reward that his mother be brought back to life, and she is restored to
life. Parasurama remains filled with sorrow after the violence, repents
and expiates his sin. After his Mother comes back to life, he tries to
clean the blood-stained axe but he finds a drop of blood which he was unable to
clean and tries cleaning the blood drop in different rivers. This is when he
moves towards the south of India in search of any holy river where he could
clean his axe, finally, he reaches Tirthahalli village in Shimoga, Karnataka
and tries to clean the axe and to his surprise, the axe gets cleaned in the
Holy river of Tunga. With respect towards the holy river, he constructs a Shiva
linga and performs pooja and the temple is named as Rameshwara temple. The
place where Lord Parashurama cleaned his axe is called Ramakunda.
He plays important roles in the Mahabharata serving
as mentor to Bhishma (chapter
5.178), Drona (chapter 1.121)
and Karna (chapter 3.286),
teaching weapon arts and helping key warriors in both sides of the war.
In the regional literature of Kerala, he is the founder of the land, the one who brought it out of the sea and settled a Hindu community there. He is also known as Rama Jamadagnya and Rama Bhargava in some Hindu texts. Parashurama retired in the Mahendra Mountains, according to chapter 2.3.47 of the Bhagavata Purana. He is the only Vishnu avatar who never dies, never returns to abstract Vishnu and lives in meditative retirement. Further, he is the only Vishnu avatar that co-exists with other Vishnu avatars Rama and Krishna in some versions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, respectively.