Death to Tyrants

 

महाभरत

Mahābharata

As retold by

Michael Dolan, B.V. Mahāyogi

The Story of Parashurama, continued...

“When a wave of soldiers realized the danger and came at him, he unleashed showers of arrows from the invincible bow of Shiva, cutting them down like wheat at harvest time. The dead bodies of young princes littered the road by the river. The vultures circled overhead. The tigers lurked in the shadows awaiting the feast that would be theirs by night. Still the powerful Paraśurāma continued to unleash his rage without mercy against the diabolical soldiers that had savaged his father.

"Finally, Kartavirya Arjuna himself, the vicious king who ruled the city of Mahishamati on the banks of the Narmada in Madhya Pradesh, mounted his golden chariot and flew at Paraśurāma. With a weapon in each of his thousand arms, or armed with a thousand weapons, he charged the young Paraśurāma in his chariot of fiery horses."

  Bhiṣma paused. He raised his head to drink again from the refreshing spring of the river Ganges that flowed from a place in the ground where the mighty Arjuna had shot an arrow.

Bhishma tells the story of Parashuram

              

 “The rage of Paraśurāma was greater than the power of the corrupt dictator Kartavirya. He had long oppressed the humble people of the Narmada, raping their daughters, pillaging their villages, and filling his treasury with booty. He had polluted rivers, destroyed farms, and extorted taxes from the people, impoverishing them while living in luxury. He had stolen the Kamadhenu cow of the forest sage, Jamadagni, out of greed. Now it was time to pay for his crimes and for the murder of Jamadagni. It was time to wet the earth with his blood."

        

      

“In hand to hand combat, Kartavirya was superior. Legend has it that he had a thousand arms, though it may also have been true that he had a thousand weapons. In any case, Paraśurāma chopped off his arms, one by one until the proud Kartavirya was left looking only at stumps.

Some say he chopped off Kartavirya’s arms using only arrows which Paraśurāma produced by the thousands, creating a storm of darts. Others believe that it was the single-handed use of his axe that caused the slaughter. When Kartavirya was defenseless and begging for mercy, Paraśurāma beheaded him with his mighty battle axe, given him by Lord Shiva, destroyer of planets.

                Bhisma said, “And when the duel was over, Paraśurāma was even thirstier for the blood of despots. He would continue his rage against the diabolic kings and princes for the rest of his life, until he had annihilated an entire generation of Kshatriyas and despotic tyrants.

Parashuram killed an entire generation of despotic princes

"When he had finished, he conducted the Ashvamedha sacrifice, a great horse sacrifice performed only by the greatest of kings."

“After bequeathing all the lands he had conquered to the humble brahmaṇas who lived by the side of the Narmada, he rested. His ordeal finished for the moment, Paraśurāma renounced the use of violence and went to the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains where it is always eternal spring. There he sits in meditation, waiting for the day when he must return to overcome the terrible and despotic rulers who would exploit the poor and humble peoples of the world. It is said that there he meditates, .

Bhishma continues...

His great disciple Bhiṣma, one of the greatest warriors who ever rode the chariot, continued: 

"As I child I learned to carry the axe and sword, and to string the bow and hit the target. I learned the different kinds of arrows and how to control various weapons by mantra. Gradually I grew into a young man and was strong, so I helped him with the simple chores of ashram life.

Typical Ashram

"He taught me the martial arts and how to discipline the mind and body. From the great Vasistha whom I had offended in my former life, I learned the eight-fold path of Asthanga-yoga, the analysis of matter and energy found in Sankhya philosophy and the different chakras of Kundalini yoga.

With the help of Paraśurāma I became expert in sword, bow, ax and arrow. I learned to wield the iron rod and the mace; how to throw darts with a sling and how to shoot hundreds of arrows fast as the wind. I learned how to prepare different kinds of arrows, with copper tips, with poison, with bronze and other metals, and the use of flaming arrows."

Ancient weapons

                I practiced the lance and spear, the javelin and other thrown weapons, iron rods and darts. I learned the importance of the hand guard called the hastaghna against the friction of the bowstring.  I learned to play the dundubhi and bakura, the musical instruments of war to put fear into the hearts of men. 

horse and rider in Himalayas

I learned to ride a horse in the foothills of the Himalayas and how to care for my horse. I learned to wear armor and chain mail. I was taught how to set snare, nets, and traps, and how to use burning rope as a smoke weapon.  We ventured onto the abandoned plains of Kurukṣetra, these very plains you see today. In those days, this was a green place and we would thunder across the plains on our horses, mentor racing disciple.

Parashuramaavatar

My Lord, Paraśurāma found me an eager student. I mastered each art in their turn while serving my guru faithfully, bringing him water and tending the ashram.  I learned drill and discipline at the feet of the master.  I practiced wrestling with other students. I became expert in the art of the mace, how to leap and turn and zigzag in the air. Once I had mastered horsemanship I was allowed to practice with a chariot, which was armed with all military devices including swords and shields, bow and arrows, mace, sling and darts and javelins.

War elephants

                After this, I learned to control war elephants, to subdue them with mantras and kind words, to fight with bow and arrow while the elephants raged across the Kurukṣetra plains. Many men came to learn the science of arms from my master and many were turned away. Paraśurāma adhered to the laws of dharma and would only train those who swore to use their powers to uphold truth and justice. At last, when I was ready, he initiated me in the use secret weapons known only to the highest mystics. He endowed me with weapons that Shiva himself had bestowed upon him when he raged against the marauding Haihaya Kshatriyas of old.

I became expert in the use of all these weapons, and skilled in the art of war. I had been given the best education of any prince ready to assume the command of all the Indias and rule greater Bharata.

                “And when I was ready to become a man, I was sent away from the ashram of my Lord Paraśurāma, the terrible killer of kshatriyas. I began my way down the valley of the river Ganges, my mother, and returned home to the kingdom of my father Shantanu.

Die to Live

                 The old man impaled on a bed of arrows pauses. A small boy dressed as a brahmaṇa gathers water from the geyser near his head and offers it to the dying warrior embedded on a thousand arrows. He wipes the sweat from Bhiṣma’s brow as the sun moves further in the northerly direction, bringing the great warrior closer to death.