Lord Parshuram Avatar

Parashurama Avatar

Parashurama, the priest is the sixth avatar of Vishnu. Lord Vishnu incarnates himself in this world to avenge arrogant Kshatriyas who were suppressing the Brahmans in the world. The word Parashurama is derived from two words Parashu meaning ‘axe’ and Lord Rama. So Parashurama means ‘Rama with an axe’. Parashurama was an ardent disciple of Shiva. He learnt martial arts from Shiva. He acquired the Bhargavastra, an axe and Vijaya as his personal bow from Shiva as a gift.

The time of Parashurama was turbulent one for the Indian subcontinent. Puranas signify frequent battles between Kshatriya clans and other kingdoms. The legend of Parashurama as follows:

Parashurama was born to Jamadagni and Renuka of Brahaman clan. Once upon a time, Kartavirya a powerful king went to Jamadagni’s house. Jamadagni was not present at that time, so the king stole his Kamadhenu cow. The cow was precious to Jamadagni as it used to give endless measure of milk. When Jamadagni found about the theft, he was furious.

He searched and killed the king and brought Kamadhenu back. The king’s son was filled with anguish and pain after hearing about the circumstances of the King’s death. To take revenge, he plotted to go back Jamadagni’s house and killed him. Jamadagni’s son Parashurama returned home after his excursion. His mother, Renuka was mourning near the dead body of his father. She was crying frantically and pounded her chest twenty-one times in a row.

Furious and grief stricken at this site, he vowed to slay all Kshatriyas twenty-one times, one for each time his mother had hit her chest. He travelled the whole Earth to hunt the sons of Kartavirya and killed them all. After Parashurama did as he vowed, he conducted the Ashvamedha sacrifice and gave all his conquered possessions to the Brahmin priests of the world.

Parashurama plays important roles in the Mahabharata and Ramayana. He served as mentor to Karna, Bhishma and drone. Parashurama is believed to come back as the military mentor of Kalki.

Lord Parashurama, the Brahmin warrior, is the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He is one of the eight immortals of Hindu mythology. He is considered one of the greatest warriors as well as a great sage. His real name is Bhargav Rama. He is the son of one of the Saptarshis, Jamadagni, and the great-grandson of Rishi Bhrigu, who wrote Bhrigusamhita.

His mother’s name was Renuka who is worshipped as one of the Hindu goddesses. Lord Parashurama was born in Treta Yuga on the day of Vaishakh Shukla Tritiya. His birth anniversary is celebrated in India as Parashurama Jayanti on Vaishakh Shukla Tritiya every year. The same day is celebrated as Akshay Tritiya also.

The Story of Lord Parashurama:

Parashurama had four brothers whose names were Soma, Rutu, Turvasu, and Megha. His mother, Renuka, was a warrior princess. His father was a Brahmin, but he was also a great warrior.

He was the disciple of sage Vishwamitra. Rishi Vishwamitra was a warrior before he became a sage. Vishwamitra had given all the military training to Parashurama. Parshurama also worshipped Lord Shiva and got many divine weapons. One of which was the big ax (Parashu). He is the master of all weapons including Brahmastra. Lord Shiva also taught him the art of war.During the times of Parashurama, Kshatriyas (the warrior clan) had become despotic and were considering themselves superior to all four Varnas. Sahastrarjuna, also known as, Kartavirya Arjuna, was the king of the Haihayas kingdom. He was one of the greatest warriors at that time and had defeated Asura king Ravana easily.

Lord Parashurama was also a disciple of Lord Dattatreya. He had divided his kingdom into 1000 regions and had appointed 1000 officers as his representatives to collect the taxes and to look after administrative matters. These 1000 officers were cruel and despotic. Even after becoming aware of the cruelty of his officers, Kartavirya Arjun overlooked it and continued his luxurious life. He had hundreds of wives and used to live a very lavish life overlooking the sufferings of the citizens.

Sahastrajuna Kills the Father of Lord Parashurama:

One day Sahastrarjuna visited the ashrama of Jamadagni along with thousands of soldiers without any notice. Irrespective of that, Jamadagni managed to give food and shelter to all his soldiers better than his expectations.

He asked Jamadagni the secret behind this.

He told him about the divine cow, Kamadhenu, in his ashrama because of whom there was no shortage of food there.

The king asked Jamadagni to give Kamadhenu to him, but he refused. Hence, Kartavira Arjuna beheaded him and took the cow forcefully with him. After knowing about this injustice, Lord Parashurama took the oath to rid the earth of Kshatriyas 21 times (It is believed that Kartavira Arjun’s soldiers cut the body of Jamadagni into 21 pieces; hence, he took the oath to eradicate Kshatriyas 21 times).

He attacked Sahastrarjuna and killed him along with all the Haihayas. After that, he fought 20 wars (a total of 21) and defeated and killed Kshatriyas. Thus, he crushed the ego of Kshatriyas and restored Dharma during that time.

Why did Lord Parashurama Kill his Mother?

One day, Parashurama’s mother, Renuka Devi, went to a river to fetch some water for rituals. There she saw a spacecraft along with some Gandharvas and Apsaras who were enjoying themselves. For some time, the thoughts of luxurious life came into her mind, but she came out of that and returned to the ashram, but in that process, she got late and the ritual was delayed for some time.

Sage Jamadagni, Parashurama’s father, had divine powers and he came to know about the thoughts that arose in her mind. He got very angry and ordered his sons to behead their mother. At that time, Parashurama was not there. His four brothers could not kill their mother out of her affection.

When Parashurama returned, Jamadagni ordered him to behead his mother, and Parashurama did so without hesitance. Knowing about the obedience of Parashurama, Jamadagni got very pleased with him and asked him for a boon. Parashurama asked him to make his mother alive again and Jamadagni did so. Thus, Parashurama got his mother back.

But the boon did not relieve him of his sin of killing his mother. So for penance, he became an ascetic and started worshipping Lord Shiva. After some time, Lord Shiva appeared before him and told him to take a bath in the water of Matrukundiya. Thus, Parashurama was relieved of the sin of killing his mother.

Lord Parshurama in the Ramayana:

During the swayamwara (an ancient ceremony of choosing the groom for the bride of her choice) of Sita, the princess of Mithila, Lord Rama lifted the bow of Shiva and broke it while trying to string it. Parashurama came to know this with his meditative powers and appeared at the place of swayamwara. Initially, he got very angry but he soon realized that Lord Rama was an incarnation of Vishnu and blessed the couple, and left the scene.

Lord Parshurama in the Mahabharata:

Parashurama appears in the epic Mahabharata a few times. He taught the art of war to Bhishma and Dronacharya. He also gave knowledge of Brahmastra to Karna but Karna lied telling him that he was a Brahmin, so he cursed him that he would forget the knowledge he had given to him at the time when he would need it the most. Parashurama also had to fight a small war with Bhishma, his own disciple, over the controversy of Princess Amba, in which he was defeated by Bhishma.

Conflict with Lord Ganesha:

One day Parashurama wanted to meet Lord Shiva. Hence, he was going to Mount Kailash. There, he was not allowed to see Lord Shiva as Lord Shiva and his wife Parvati were resting and had ordered Ganesha to not allow anybody to meet them. At that time he was unaware of the fact that Ganesha is the son of Shiva and Parvati.

As Parashurama is quick-tempered, he got angry and fought with Ganesha, but Ganesha was a great warrior and gave a good fight to him. So as a last resort, he threw his ax given by Lord Shiva towards Ganesha. Lord Ganesha realized that his father gave this ax to Parashurama and hence to revere it, he took the blow on one of his teeth. With the vigorous blow that tooth of his broke. Therefore, Lord Ganesha is also known as Ekadanta (with one tooth). Soon after, Shiva intervened and pacified the situation.

Lord Parashurama Gives the Sudarshana Chakra to Lord Krishna:

When Lord Krishna was at the hermitage of Sage Sandipani, Lord Parashurama came there. Lord Krishna attended and served him. After that Lord Krishna sought his blessings. As Lord Krishna was the Supreme Lord himself, he said that what blessing could he give to him. Therefore, he gave him the Sudarshana Chakra which is the ultimate weapon.

Is Lord Parashurama Still Alive?

He is one of the eight Chrianjivis (immortals). He is still alive and lives in a subtle body on Mahendragiri mountain in Odisha, India. Lord Parashurama would appear at the end of Kaliyuga and would train the Kalki Avatar (the tenth incarnation of Lord Vishnu) in warfare.

Parashurama Jayanti:

Parashurama Jayanti is celebrated as the birth anniversary every year during Shukla Paksha Tritiya in Vaishakha month. It coincides with Akshaya Tritiya which is another important Hindu festival. The worship of Lord Parashurama is not as popular as that of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna.

Who is Parshurama? Why did Lord Vishnu take Parshurama Avatar?

Parshurama was the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu. He was born to the Brahman Sage Jamadagni and the princess Renuka, one of the Saptarishis. Though  he was born in the Brahmin family, he carried Khatriya traits like aggressiveness, warfare and valour. Hence he is known as “Brahmin-Kshatriya”.

Parshurama is also known as immortal, who fought back the advancing ocean which was going to hit the lands of Kokan and Malabar. That  area between Karnataka and Maharashtra is known as “Parshuramkshetra”. And according to some legends, it is believed that Parshurama still lives at Mahendragiri Mountain Peak in Orissa.

Reason why Lord Vishnu incarnated as Parshurama was to help Mother Earth to get rid of sinful and destructive monarchs that neglected their duties. Once King Kartavirya forcefully tried to take away his father’s magical cow Kamdhenu. Being so angry he killed King Kartavirya and his entire army. In revenge the King’s son killed Jamadagni in Parshuram’s absence. Furious and hurt, Parshuram killed all the male Kshatriyas on earth 21 times and filled five lakes with their blood.

In Kalki Purana, it is mentioned that Parshuram still resides on the earth. It states that Parshuram will be the martial Guru of Kalki, Who is going to be the last avatar of Lord Vishnu.

|| Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata

Abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srjamy aham

Paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskritam

Dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge ||

From Rambhadra to Parashurama – Lesser-known facts about Vishnu’s sixth Avatar

With the re-telecast of Ramayana on the Doordarshan network after three decades, a lot of the younger generation got acquainted with Parashurama, the sixth avatar of Vishnu. Parashuram made an appearance in the Sita Swayamvar episode where he angrily admonishes Rama when he breaks Lord Shiva’s bow. The conversation that followed between Lord Parashurama and Lakshman inspired many memes and trended on the internet for days.

Despite him being the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu, not much is known about Lord Parashurama, except that he killed all Kshatriya kings and also cut off the head of his mother. On this Parashurama Jayanti, let’s learn more about the god who was born as Ramabhadra.

Parashurama: The Brahma Kshatriya

Lord Parashurama was born to Rishi Jamadagni and Devi Renuka. Rishi Jamadagni was a Brahmin sage and his wife Renuka was a Kshatriya. Rishi Jamadagni and Renuka performed penance for several years towards Lord Shiva so that the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu would be born to them. Lord Shiva granted them the boon and Vishnu incarnated as their fifth, and youngest, child and was named Rambhadra.

By birth, Rambhadra was a brahmin but he had the aggression and valor of the warriors (Kshatriyas) and that’s why he was renowned as a Brahma Kshatriya. He strove immensely to learn warfare and archery from wherever he could and became the fiercest warrior of his time. He even undertook a severe penance for Lord Shiva and asked for his ax as a boon. Lord Shiva tested him multiple times and when he passed all tests, he was granted the celestial weapon (also known as parshu). It was then that his name was changed from Rambhadra to Parashurama.

Lord Parashurama is still alive

According to the Hindu scriptures, seven different beings were given the boon of being immortal.

अश्वत्थामा बलि र्व्यासो हनुमांश्च बिभीषणः ।

कृपः परशुरामश्च सप्तैते चिरजीविनः ॥

Ashwatthama Bali Vyaso Hanumanashcha Vibhishana,

Kripa Parashuramashcha Saptaito Chiranjivinam

Rishi Vyasa, Lord Hanuman, Vibhishana, Mahabali, Ashwatthama, Kripacharya, and Lord Parashurama are the seven beings that were given the boon of being immortal. It is said that Lord Parashurama still resides in the Mahendragiri mountains which are located in present-day Odisha.

There are other lands associated with Parashurama as well. Legends say that once Lord Parashurama threw his battle ax into the sea. The power of the ax was such that the whole western coast started to rise because of that. That region is the present-day Malabar Konkan coast.

The area of Goa (Gomantak)  leading up to Kanyakumari (Kerala) was reclaimed from the sea with the help of Parashurama. This is why this Malabar-Konkan region, and the western coast of Kerala, is called as Parashurama Bhumi or Kshetra.

There is a temple dedicated to Lord Parashurama in South Goa as well. The legend also says that Parashurama brought 64 brahmin families from north and settled them in Kerala to make up for the killing of Kshatriya kings.

Why Lord Parashurama beheaded his mother and Parashurama Kund

One of the most popular stories about Lord Parashurama was that he beheaded his mother. But there’s a symbolism of righteousness and following the direction of your master that one can learn from it. Devi Renuka was considered a powerful being because of her devotion to her husband. It is said that she had the power to bake a pot from the river sand, in which she would collect water every day for her husband’s daily rituals.

One day, while going towards the river, she saw the reflection of a beautiful celestial being (Gandharva) and lost her balance in the water. Because of that, she lost the power of making the pot and couldn’t collect the water. Sage Jamadagni got to know of this via his intuition and ordered his sons to behead their mother. When the other two sons refused, he turned them into stone. When Jamadagni turned to Lord Parashurama, he beheaded his mother with his ax.

Sage Jamadagni was pleased with Parashurama’s righteousness and asked him for two boons. Lord Parashurama asked his father to restore the lives of his mother and brothers and Sage Jamadagni granted him that.

The legend says that the act of beheading his own mother was so heinous that the ax got stuck to Parashurama’s hand. Even after Renuka came back to life, the ax remained stuck in his hand. The sages in that time advised him that he needed to cleanse off the heinous deed by washing his hands in the Lohit River.

Parashurama walked to the Lohit River, located in present-day Arunachal Pradesh, and washed his hands at the river bank. As soon as he touched the water, the ax got detached from his hands. Because of this, the site became a place of worship and since came to be known as the Parashurama Kund.

As you can see, the geographical spread of Parashurama’s legends spread from North-East India over to the western coast.

The story of Khanda Parshu

Once, to test the skills and prowess of his disciple Parashurama, Lord Shiva engaged him in a battle. The fight between the master and disciple continued for 21 days. At one point, the trident of Lord Shiva flew towards Parashurama. To save himself from the trident, he attacked Lord Shiva with his ax which hit the lord on his head. Lord Shiva was impressed with the warfare skill of his disciple and embraced him happily. Lord Shiva also preserved the scar that the ax left on his forehead as a mark of his disciple’s skills. And since that day, he came to be renowned as Khanda Parshu.

Parashurama Jayanti is celebrated every year on the Tritiya of the Shukla Paksha (the third day after the new moon of April). Devotees of Lord Vishnu fast on this day to seek the lord’s blessings. Just like Lord Parashurama lived a life of righteous valor, the devotees are rewarded with the strength for the same.

The Story of Parshuram

Lord Vishnu occupies an integral place in Indian mythology and religion. Lord Vishnu is known for his many incarnations. Parshuram is believed to be his sixth incarnation.The story of Parshuram belongs to the Treta yug. The word Parshuram means Lord Ram with an axe.

The legends associated with Parshuram:

Parshuram was the son of Jamadagni and Renuka. Parshuram had received an axe from Lord Shiva after undertaking terrible reparation. Lord Shiva had also taught his methods of warfare and other skills. Born in a Brahmin family, he was unlike the other Brahmins. Instead, Parshuram carried traits of a Kshatriya. He carried a number of Khatriya traits, which included aggression, warfare and valour.  Hence, he is called as a ‘Brahma-Kshatriya’ as he had skills from both the clan.

One story associated with Parshuram is that once King Kartavirya Sahasrarjuna and his army forcibly tried to take away Parshuram’s father’s magical cow named Kamdhenu.

Being angry and revengeful, he killed the entire army and King Kartavirya. In revenge for their father’s death, the king’s son killed Jamadagni in Parshuram’s absence. Furious and hurt by their act, he went ahead killing all the king’s sons and corrupt Haihaya Kings and warriors on the earth.He conducted the Ashvamedha sacrifice and gave away his entire holdings to the priests who conducted the ritual.

Parshuram is also known as immortal, who fought back the advancing ocean, which was going to hit the lands of Kokan and Malabar. The area between Maharashtra and Karnataka is known as ParshuramKshetra.

Parshuram was known for his love for righteousness. He was known to be the Guru to Bhishma, Dronacharya and Karna. However, in advance, Parshuram knew that Karna would do injustice to Duryodhan in the Kruskshetra war. So as the duty of a good guru, he decides to teach him the Brahmashastra, but he also cursed Karna that the knowledge will not be any useful to him.

According to the folklore, Parshuram gave the Sudharshan chakra to Lord Krishna.  It is believed that the main motto of Vishnu’s sixth incarnation was to free the earth’s burden by assassinating the sinful and irreligious kings who neglected their duties.

According to another legend, Parshuram once went to meet Lord Shiva. As he reached the door, Lord Ganesh confronted Parshuram and stopped him from meeting with Lord Shiva. Angry and furious, Parshuram threw the axe given by Lord Shiva on Ganesha. Knowing that the axe was given by Lord Shiva, Ganesha allowed the axe to cut away one of his tusks.

Another story mentioned in the Kalki Purana believes that Parshuram still resides on the earth. It states that Parshuram will be the martial guru of Shri Kalki, who is going to be the last avatar of Lord Vishnu. He instructs Kalki to perform a long sacrament to please Lord Shiva. After being pleased Lord Shiva will bless Kalki with the celestial weaponry.

Bhagwan Parshuram was the Great Grandson of Bhrugu Rishi, after whom the “Bhruguvansh” has been named. Bhrugu’s Son, Richeek, married King Gadhi’s daughter, Satyavati. One day, Satyavati requested Bhrugu for a Son for herself and her mother. Bhrugu prescribed separate regimens for the two ladies in terms of worshipping a particular kind of tree, keeping in mind that Satyavati was married to a Brahmin and Her mother to a Kshatriya. However, the two ladies got confused – Satyavati followed the regimen of her mother and Vice Versa. Consequently, Bhrugu foretold that Satyavati’s son will display Kshatriya traits and her mother’s son will display Brahmin Traits. After some pleading, Satyavati convinced Bhrugu to have this effect, not on her son (Jamadagni) but her Grandson (Parshuram) Jamadagni married Renuka, daughter of King Prasenjit. They had five Sons, Parshuram being the youngest, the others being Rukmvan, Sushen, Vasu and Vishvasu. As Bhrugu had foretold, Parshuram, despite of being born in a Brahmin family, had Kshatriya traits in terms of valour, as was displayed after Haihaya King Sahasrarjuna killed his father Jamadagni.

The Killing of Jamadagni

A Haihaya King Kartavirya Arjuna (Sahasrarjuna – purported to possess a thousand arms) and his army visited Jamadagni, a Brahmin sage, who fed his guest and the whole army with his divine cow Surabhi. The king demanded the magical cow. Jamadagni refused because he needed the cow for his religious ceremonies. King Kartavirya Arjuna (Sahasrarjuna) took the cow forcibly and devastated the ashram. Angered at this, Parshuram killed the king’s entire army and, after cutting each one of his thousand arms, killed the king himself with his axe. As a revenge, the King’s sons killed Jamadagni in Parshuram’s absence.

Furious at his father’s murder, Parshuram killed all sons of Sahasrajuna and their aides. His thirst for revenge unquenched, he went on killing every adult Kshatriya on earth, not once but 21 times, filling five ponds with blood. These are the actions which highlight his warrior characteristics. Ultimately, his grandfather, Richeek Rishi appeared and stopped him. Subsequently, he donated the whole of the earth won from the Kshatriyas to Brahmins. Drona reaped the benefit of this donation by Parashurama; he went to Parashurama and requested for Parashurama’s warfare skills. Parashurama agreed.

Bhagwan Parshuram – Legends

It is said that when Parashurama saved and reclaimed Kerala, he settled Kerala from the retreat of the sea, that was the beginning of the Kollam Era (AD 825) (possibly named after the city Kollam) for the Malayalam Calendar.

According to one legend, Parshuram also went to visit Shiva once but the way was blocked by Ganesha. Parshuram threw the axe at him and Ganesha, knowing it had been given to him by Shiva, allowed it to cut off one of his tusks.

There is an interesting side to Parshuram’s conquest of Kshatriyas. After one his conquests, he returns to Aihole (Badami Taluka, Bagalkot district in Karnataka) which, some say was where he lived. Those who know Aihole would know that the river Malaprabha does a near 180 degree turn there. While Parshuram washed his blood soaked axe upriver, beyond the bend, there were village belles washing clothes downriver. The axe was so bloody that it turned the entire river red. This, the women washing clothes saw and exclaimed “Ai hole!” (Oh, what a river!). The name stuck and the village is now known as Aihole. There is a legend that Nairs (Nagas) of Kerala removed their sacred thread and hide in forest to avoid Parshuram’s revenge against Kshatriyas. Parshuram donated the land to Nambuthiri Brahimns and Nambuthiris denied the Nairs Kshatriya status (though they did Kshatriya duties and almost all the royal houses in Kerala come from them)

Shiva’s Bow

In the Ramayana, Parshuram came to the betrothal ceremony of the seventh Avatar of Lord Vishnu, Rama, to princess Sita. As a test of worthiness the suitors were required to lift and string the bow of Shiva, given to the King Janaka by Parshuram. Rama successfully strung the bow, but in the process it broke in two, producing a tremendous noise that reached the ears of Parshuram.

In one such version, played in ramlilas across India, Bhagwan Parshuram arrived after hearing the sound of the bow of Shiva breaking. The Kshatriyas were afraid to confront the sage, but Sita approached the sage. He blessed her, saying “Saubhagyawati bhavah”, literally meaning “be thou blessed with good luck”. So when he turned to confront Rama, the destroyer of Shiva’s bow, he could not pick up his axe to do so. This was so because, as he blessed Sita with good luck, he could not cause any harm to her husband. At the same time, he recognized Rama for what he truly was, namely, the avatar of Vishnu as his bow fent flying in the hands of Lord Rama.

The Mahabharata

In the Mahabharata, Bhagwan Parshuram was the Guru of the warrior Karna, born to a Kshatriya mother but raised as the son of a charioteer, or lower class of Kshatriyas. Karna came to Parshuram after being rejected from the school of Drona, who taught the five Pandava and one hundred Kauravas princes. Parshuram agreed to teach Karna, believing him to not be of Kshatriya birth [citation needed], and gave him the knowledge of the extremely powerful Brahmastra weapon. But an incident would render the Brahmastra almost useless to Karna.

One day, Parshuram was sleeping with his head resting on Karna’s thigh, when a beetle crawled up and bit Karna’s thigh, boring into it. In spite of the bleeding and the pain, he neither flinched nor uttered a cry so that his teacher could continue his rest. However, the blood trickled down, reaching Parshuram and awakening him. Convinced that only a Kshatriya could have borne such pain in silence and that Karna had therefore lied in order to receive instruction, he cursed Karna that his knowledge of the Brahmastra would fail him when he needed it most. Later, during the Kurukshetra war, Karna had a dream at night when he thought of his guru and asked him to take back the curse he had warranted years back.

Parshuram explained that he knew that the day would come; he knew that Karna was a Kshatriya, but deemed him to be a worthy student and instructed him nevertheless. However, the outcome of the war would have left the world in ruins if Duryodhana were to rule, as opposed to Yudhishtra. For that reason, Parshuram requested that Karna accept the curse and fall at the hands of Arjuna, inadvertently saving the world.

Parshuram was the guru of both Bhishma’s (Devavrata) and Dronacharya. Also, the Sudarshan chakra (or Sudarshan Vidya) is said to be given by Bhagwan Parshuram to Krishna.

The Sixth Avatar of Vishnu – Bhagwan Parshuram

Bhagwan Parshuram – Sixth Avatar of Lord Vishnu

The purpose of the sixth incarnation of Vishnu is considered by religious scholars to be to relieve the earth’s burden by exterminating the sinful, destructive and irreligious monarchs that pillaged its resources, and neglected their duties as kings.

Parshuram is of a martial Shraman ascetic. However, unlike all other avatars, Bhagwan Parshuram still lives on earth, even today. Secondly, he is an Avesha Avatar, a secondary type of Avatar. In such an Avatar, Vishnu does not directly descend as in the case of Rama or Krishna but instead enters the soul of a man with His form. Accordingly, unlike Rama and Krishna, Parshuram is not worshiped. But in South India, at the holy place Pajaka, there exists one major temple commemorating Parshuram.

Parashurama, the creator of the Konkan coast, is also worshiped in a temple at Lote Parshuram in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district. The people of the Konkan call their land ‘Parshuram Bhoomi’ or the land of Parshuram in accordance with the legend that the sage reclaimed the land from the sea.

There are several Parshuram temples throughout the western coast of India as well as North India, but especially more in the coastal areas from Bharuch in the West Indian state of Gujarat right up to Kerala, the southern tip of India. One can see a Parshurama Temple with an Agni Mandir in Shivapur, Akkalkot and Khopoli in Maharashtra and Fort Songadh in Gujarat.

Kalki Purana

The Kalki Purana states Parshuram will be the martial guru of Sri Kalki, the 10th and final avatar of Lord Vishnu. It is he who instructs Kalki to perform a long penance to Shiva to receive celestial weaponry.

Parshuram and Temple Deities

Kanyakamuari Devi – Kanyakaumari Idol installed by Lord Parashuram

In the Kanyakumari Temple in Kanyakumari town, Bhagwan Parshuram installed the Idol made of blue stone. Parshuram installed the idol of Dharma Sastha (Ayyappa) on the peak on the Sabarimala Hill in the forest. Parshuram trained Ayyappa just as Parshuram had trained Karna in the Mahabharata and is believed will train the future Kalki.

He created a temple of worship right after he resurfaced Kerala from the sea. He placed statues of various deities in 108 different places and introduced a form of martial arts (“Kalari Payattu”) to protect the temple from the evils. Also, while the other pilgrimages created by Parshuram are devoted to Lord Shiva, Lord Subramanya and Lord Ganesha, the Kollur Mookambika temple is the only one devoted to goddess Parvati.

The story of Parashuram starts with his ancestors—he is a descendent of Pururavas, who is also ancestor of the Kuru clan that is central to the epic story of the Mahabharata. Different Puranas trace his ancestry differently, but we go with Vishnu Purana which says that one of the grand descendants of Pururavas,

The birth of Parasurama: Kusamba wanted a son who could be an Indra. He underwent a huge penance and multiple sacrifices for the same.

Naturally then the prevailing Indra was rattled. He decided to be born as Kusamba’s son. And he was thus born as Gadhi, of the Kusa or Kausika race. Gadhi gave birth to a daughter called Satyavati who drew the attention of Richika, who is a part of the Bhrigu clan (we saw the Bhrigus make an appearance first in Narasimha and then the Vamana avatar). He asked to get married to her.

Gadhi does not want to give his daughter to an old Brahman and so he sets him a challenge, seemingly impossible to fulfil, as a pre-condition to the alliance. “Get me a 1000 fleet horses, all white with one black ear,” he commands. But this is no ordinary Brahman, Richika asks the god of wind, Varuna to help him and brings Gadhi the horses he wanted.

Richika and Satyavati are married but have no son. So Richika keen to have an heir, decided to take matters in his own hands. He makes a paste with rice, barley, pulse, butter and milk that would yield him a son. But Satyavati asked Richika to also make one for her mother. He did that, made two separate piles and specifically asked his wife to not mix up the two. However, the mother put forth a strange request—“let me have your portion of the paste she said because then my son would have Brahminical qualities and your son (as it was meant to be mine) will have Kshatriya-like traits.” A Kshatriya can earn world renown unlike a Brahman and as a mother she told Satyavati, this would make her son more glorious than hers.

Satyavati agreed but when Richika came back home and was distraught. The portion meant for her would have given her a son well versed in the scriptures and one who was wise. But now Satyavati would get a warrior and her mother the son meant for her.

Satyavati begged for forgiveness and asked her husband to reverse the effects of the switch. If that were not possible then she said that let the grandson be a brave and invincible warrior and the son, a wise sage. Richika agreed and so Parasurama’s birth was pushed back by a generation. Satyavati gave birth to Jamadagni, who went on to marry Renuka and their son was Parasurama—the sixth avatar of Vishnu.

The story of Parasurama: Renuka was a princess while Jamadagni was a hermit. The Vishnu Purana does not go into too much detail about him but the Mahabharata, Ramayana and the Bhagvat, Padma and Agni Puranas do.

Renuka and Jamadagni had 4 sons, Parasurama was the fifth. Renuka was known for her chastity and devotion to her husband. Every morning as was her practice she went to bathe in the river and one such morning, as she walked there, she saw a young prince and his wife sporting in the waters (in poetry and dance, this scene has been described variously as her seeing fish making love, or gandharvas engaged in the act of sex and so on). When she got back, her husband knew what she had done and was furious (she is believed to have had the power to carry water from the river in an unbaked clay pot but that morning the pot cracked open).

He asked his sons, one by one, to kill their mother. All refused except Parasuram. With his axe he beheaded his mother and only then is the sage’s anger satiated. He offers Parasurama a reward and the son asked for his mother back.

The story goes on: There was a king called Karttavirya, protected by Dattatreya, with a 1000 arms and a golden chariot that took him everywhere. Once he came to the hermitage of Jamadagni where Renuka served him as per the duties of the time. But the king was arrogant and instead of acknowledging the hospitality of the sage and his wife stole the calf of his favourite cow and tore down the tall trees of the ashram. When Parasurama came back and found out the full story, it drove him into a rage and he set out to battle the king and kill him.

The king died but Karttavirya’s sons attacked the ashram when Parasurama was missing and killed the sage. When Parasurama found out, he set out on a mass carnage and only when he had cleaned the earth of all Kshatriyas, was the avatara’s work done.

Parashurama Avatar Story

State : Podgorica Municipality

City : Templefolks

Category : Interesting Stories

Jamadgani and Renuka both were honored for having Parshurama as their child as well as had the wish satisfying dairy animals – Kamdhenu and her calf- an image of wealth. Kartavirya an effective ruler, once went to Jamadagni’s home when he was out, and after a feast, stole the Kamadhenu a divine cow, which should give unending amount of milk.

On hearing this Parashurama become furious, went to King Kartavirya arjuna?s palace and asked for the cow kamadhenu, but he refused to return it back. On account of this the war begins between the Parashurama and the soldiers of Kartiyavirya arjuna, they all killed by parshurama , now arjun itself came to the battle place to fight against the parashurama. Parashurama assaulted him and cuts off his arms simply like one cut off the branches of a tree and after that cut his hatchet down on the despot’s neck and murdered him.

On the other side, Arjuna’s children were craving for revenge. Once when Jamadagni and Renuka were distant from everyone else in their Ashrama they attacked the Ashrama and murdered Jamadagni. Renuka swooned in the wake of seeing this sight. On seeing this Parashurama pledged that he will destroy the whole kartiyavirya arjuna family members. He assaulted and slaughtered all the sovereigns, finding them from their concealing places, and cutting them to death.

He slaughtered each male individual from Kshatriya lord Arjuna’s family  his children, siblings, cousins, uncles, even the elders.Parashurama requital was finished; he turned to atonement accepting that he had made the Brahmins completely free from the apprehensions of Kshatriyas. Parashurama is viewed as “Chiranjeevi” or everlasting and is said to run until ‘Maha Pralaya”.Parashurama Avatar Story

Parashurama avatar is the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu’s Dasavatara. He was acquired this world to retaliate for all kshatriyas who had ended up arrogant and were stifling the brahmans on the universe. He borned toJamadagni and Renuka, and fit in with the Brighu faction. Parashurama was always carried an axe exhibited to him by Lord Shiva of whom he was a passionate devotee.

Ashram of Sage Jamadagni was located on the banks of the stream Narmada where he instructed his children and his followers. Parshurama’s parents were spiritual individuals, his mom Renuka had summoned over water elements and his dad Jamadgani over flame. When Sage Jamadagni was performing a yajna in his ashram. He requested that his wife Renuka bring water from the stream to offer oblation to divine beings.

Around then a divine artist named Chitraratha was making game in the stream with his wives. Out of interest Renuka remained there to see them and missed the time of oblation. Jamadagni was angry to the point that he requested his children, “Remove her head as she has gone out in her obligation!” None of the children approached. Parashurama complied with his order and slaughtered his mother. Rishi Jamadgani was so satisfied with his child that he approached him to request an aid. Parashurama said, please bring back our mother renuka by your power, now Jamadagni’s indignation had died down and with his celestial forces he brought back existence of Renuka.Do’s

Must worship Lord Vishnu

Chant Lord Vishnu Mantras while doing puja

Observe fasting on the day of Parashurama Jayanti

Offer food to poor peoples.

Visit nearby Lord Vishnu Temples.

Don’t s:

Should avoid eating Non-veg on this auspicious day.

Should not involve in any wrong doings.

Drinking alcohol or smoking is strictly avoidable while observing fasting.

History of Parashurama

Before he was known as Parashurama, Bhargav Rama was born into a family of Brahmin priests during the Treta Yuga or second age. According to the Mahabharata, Parashurama’s father was the Brahmin Rishi Jamadagni, while his mother, Renuka Mahar, was a princess from the Kshatriya, or warrior aristocracy class. Parashurama had four brothers and was trained in warfare by the warrior sage Rishi Vishwamitra.

Mythologies of Parasurama

There are numerous myths about Parashurama in ancient Hindu texts. Because he is immortal, Parashurama appears in multiple stories and interacts with numerous characters. Some mythologies about Parashurama include:

The illustration depicts Parashurama exacting vengeance against Kartavriya Arjuna.

Attributes of Parashurama

Lord Parashurama is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, who has several notable attributes. As one of the eight Chiranjeevis, or immortals, he is prophesied to become a mentor to Kalki, the 10th and final avatar of Vishnu, who will end the age of adharma, Kali Yuga, and restore the age of purity, Satya Yuga, during the Maha Pralaya, or dissolution of the world. Notable attributes of Parashurama include:

Worship of Parashurama

Lord Parashurama was born in Vaishakh, the second month of the Hindu calendar, on the third day of Shukla Paksha, the waxing phase of the moon. His birthday is also celebrated as the holiday Akshaya Tritiya, also known as Parshuram Jayanti, and typically occurs in late April or early May on the Gregorian calendar. Although Parashurama is not a very popular Hindu god, there are temples dedicated to his worship throughout India, where people worship him by praying and giving offerings. Some temples and pilgrimage sites that worship Parashurama include:

Kunjarugiri Parashurama Temple in Udupi.

Anantheshwara Temple in Udupi.

Parshuram Kund in Arunachal Pradesh.

Parashuram Dham in Nepal.

Lesson Summary

Lord Parashurama is also known as ”Rama with an axe,” Ramabhadra, Bhargava, Jamadagnya, Parashuram, Parshuram, or Parasurama. He is number six of ten major avatars, or incarnations, of the supreme Hindu preserver god, Lord Vishnu. Vishnu’s ten major avatars are called the Dashavatara. Parashurama was born Bhargav Rama, the son of the Brahmin priest Rishi Jamadagni and a Kshatriya warrior aristocracy class princess, Renuka Mahar. His earthly teacher was the warrior sage, Rishi Vishwamitra. Parashurama was also a deeply devoted follower of the supreme Hindu god of destruction, Lord Shiva, who trained him to become a great warrior, master of weapons and warfare, gifted him his axe, Parashu, and granted him the Element of Lord Shiva, Rudramsha, which made him one of the Chiranjeevis, or immortals.

As the sixth Dashavatara of Vishnu, Parashurama’s task was to restore and reinforce divine order and balance, called dharma, by defeating the Kshatriyas who had become corrupted and evil. When King Kartavriya Arjuna, a Kshatriya, killed Parashurama’s father to steal a sacred cow gifted to him by Lord Indra, Parashurama vowed vengeance against the Kshatriyas. Parashurama subsequently waged twenty-one generations of wars, purging the world of the corruption and evil of the Kshatriyas. When his task was completed, Parashurama became a hermit to achieve penance. The holiday Parshuram Jayanti celebrates Parashurama’s birth on the third day of Shukla Paksha, the waxing phase of the moon, in the month of Vaishakh on the Hindu calendar.

Who is the wife of Parashurama?

The wife of Parashurama is Dharani. Not much is known about her, however. After Parashurama defeated the Kshatriyas, he became a hermit.

What are the powers of Parashuram?

Parashuram has the divine powers of the gods, military expertise, and the powers of immortality. He defeated twenty-one generations of wars against the corrupt Kshatriyas with his powers.

What is Parashuram famous for?

Parashuram is famous for being the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Parashuram, also known as ”Rama with an Axe”, is immortal because of his devotion to Lord Shiva.

Parashurama – The Ever Living Vishnu

Parashurama is the sixth avatar of Vishnu who lived in the Treta Yuga. He is the son of Renuka and the Saptarishi Jamadagni. Parashurama is most known for ridding the world of Kshatriya’s twenty – one time over and over again after king Kartavirya killed his father. He also played important roles in the Hindu Epic Mahabharata and Ramayana, serving as mentor to Bhishma, Karna and Drona.

According to Hindu belief unlike all other vishnu avatars Parashurama still lives on the Earth. In South India, at the holy place Pajaka near Udupi, one major temple exists which commemorates Parashurama. There are many temples at the western coast of India which are dedicated to Lord Parashurama.

Parshuram threw his bloodstained axe into the sea but the sea recoiled in horror and drew back revealing a new coast now known as the Konkan and the Malabar, which is why Paashuram worship is most prevalent in the western coast of India.

The Kalki Purana writes that he will reemerge at the end of Kali Yuga to be the martial and spiritual guru of Kalki, the tenth and final avatar of Vishnu. It is foretold that he will instruct Kalki to perform a difficult penance to Shiva, and receive the powerful weaponry needed to bring about end time. It is not the first time that 6th Avatar of Lord Vishnu will meet another Avatar.