The Story Continues

महाभरत

Mahābharata

As retold by

Michael Dolan, B.V. Mahāyogi

Himalayas

The little brahmana boy stood closer to the ancient warrior. “Tell me, O Grandfather, what happened next? When your mother took you up on the river, where did you go? How did you live? Who were your teachers?”

Bhishma looked around. The sun had moved. Krishna and Arjuna listened attentively. He sipped again from the clear waters of the Ganges that trickled in a tiny fountain from where Arjuna had pierced the earth with an arrow. He took up his story again.

Bhishma said, “I will begin by giving you the history of my military guru as he told it to me. My guru was the great Paraśurāma, scourge of the kshatriyas, revolutionary hero to the pious brahmaṇas. My teacher, Paraśurāma, was a brave man. Although he was born a brahmana, he became a warrior to do away with despotic princes who exploited the poor and humble peoples of the Narmada.
“I will tell you his story exactly as I heard it from him when I was a boy and became his disciple at his ashram in the foothills of the Himalaya mountains, so long ago.”

BHIṢMA LEARNS THE ART OF WAR FROM PARASHURAM

Parashurama: Avatar of Vishnu who exterminated impious warriors, totalitarian kings and despotic princes.

“Soon after I was born, my mother - Ganges, the goddess of the river, took me into the  mountains where, at her earthly source, many saints and Rishis had their ashrams. This hilly country is green and shady with many trees and streams.  There under the care of  Vasiṣṭha Muni, whose magic cow I had stolen in another life, I learned the secrets of the Vedas and Upaniṣads. While I offended that saint in my former life, he was kind enough to train me in the different kinds of yoga practice and meditation. He taught me the meaning of dharma, how to focus the mind, and the importance of eternal truth. In the ashrama of Vasistha, as a child, I learned  all the important forms of spiritual discipline.

Of course, I am the son of the great king Shantanu and belong to the kshatriya, warrior class. So, finally, when the time came for me to learn the art of war and weaponry I was sent by Vasishta to the ashrama of the great Paraśurāma, the greatest warrior who ever lived. He was the killer of tyrant kings and despotic princes.

Now, long ago, high in the foothills of the Himalayas, the Great Paraśurāma lived alone. His ashram was known to only a few great forest sages. There the holy River takes its birth, and trickles down from the fresh snow in rivulets. The melting snow gushes from the glacial ice palaces of the Rishis and joining the rivulets, turns the nascent springs into running streams. Every spring, these brooks in turn find their old tracks in the barren rocks and race forward down the rock until they become raging white waters coursing from the mountain side in misty falls.

Himalayan cascades

The hiding places of the great sages who spend their days tormenting themselves with penances were known only to the privileged few who sought boons from these wise souls.

Yogi meditating and performing austerities at Kbal Spean, Cambodia

 Their names were legend, Vasistha, Visvamitra, Vaishampayana, and Vyāsa. I was sent by Vasistha to take shelter of the great warrior Paraśurāma, who alone had been born to avenge the wrongs committed against the humble and innocent brahmaṇas.
It was said that with his fierce battle axe he had baptized twenty one lakes with the blood of the proud Haihaya Kshatriyas.

Parashurama and Kartavirya Arjuna, Indian Miniature, Punjab

At this time, when I was yet a boy, newly arrived at his ashram to learn the martial arts, my master was tired of death and violence. He softened at seeing me, a helpless child, newly arrived at his door. He was tired of blood, of killing. And so the terrible Paraśurāma, feared by kings, who had filled twenty one lakes with the blood of his adversaries, took me in and promised to teach me his military arts.

practicing martial arts

The great warrior had no interest in war. He didn't want to accept anyone born of the kshatriya caste. He asked me of my origin, and I did my best to tell him, for in truth, I knew little of the story of my birth. That would come later.  I told him how I had been raised in the ashram of  Vasiṣṭha Muni and how I had served him and how I had done my best to learn the Vedas and be a useful disciple.
As I was just a boy and yearned to understand the arts and science of military war, I asked my gurudeva, Paraśurāma, to tell me his story. I was curious to know how he had become such a great and powerful warrior. I reveal it now to you, exactly as he told it to me.

NEXT: THE STORY OF PARASHURAMA AND KARTAVIRYA. DON'T MISS IT.