The Axe of Parashuram

महाभरत

Mahābharata

As retold by

Michael Dolan, B.V. Mahāyogi

Story of Parashurama: Continued

And so the family continued their life on the banks of the Narmada. The anger of the great sage had passed. Those who pass their lives in austerities and vows of poverty are often prone to anger. Anger and pride are the vices of the renounced order of life. The sage Jamadagni had fallen victim to the vice of anger in his cruel punishment of Renuka.  But his son had redeemed him with his call for mercy.

On her part, Renuka served her children as only a devoted mother can and no longer entertained adulterous thoughts of luxurious young princes with their riches and elephants. As time went on, no one remembered the incident but young Ram and his father the great sage, Jamadagni. It all seemed like a dream now. 

The moons changed, the monsoon came and went and the Narmada flooded her banks. The rice grew in the paddy and the tigers stalked the water buffalo in the long grass by the river. Jamadagni spoke often of the treachery of kings in his lectures which were attended by more young men eager to learn.

Old Jamadagni explained the laws of dharma for brahmanas and the military code for warriors. He lamented that the warriors no longer followed the ancient rules. The young princes abused their power and wealth, corrupting virgins, drinking wine, hunting and killing deer and forest animals for sport, and gambling away their fortunes. And when their fortunes ran out, they looted and plundered the poor and innocent people who lived in the towns and villages by the banks of the Narmada.

These rogues had no respect for old people and teachers. According to the rules of ancient warfare a nobleman should never make war on  innocent people untrained in weapons. Women and children should be protected, not abused and exploited. Jamadagni was unhappy with the kings and princes who wandered the land like bandits, marauders and ne’er-do-wells, preying on the poor and defenseless brahmaṇas who only wanted to live in peace.

               

 In the meantime, Parashuram was becoming a man. Young Parashuram would go into the forest and practice martial arts for hours with his axe. He could split a sapling in half from ten paces distant. He knew that one day he would need to combat the evil kings and princes who were threatening his father’s way of life. Every day he went to practice; he would practice alone in this way until one day he received a vision. 

In a dream he saw Lord Shiva. When he awoke, he was  convinced that he would only become expert in the use of the axe and other weapons by pleasing Shiva, the god of destruction. So he undertook great penances and austerities, fasting and controlling his breath and life force until one day Lord Shiva appeared before him, smiling and riding a bull.

As Parasurama looked in awe, the god said, “You have practiced the arts of war long and hard in my forest. How can I help you?” Young Paraśurāma begged him for the secrets of martial warfare. Lord Shiva then taught the young Paraśurāma, training him in the use of the axe and in archery secretly. Upon the completion of his training Shiva gave him two powerful weapons: a divine axe and bow endowed with mystic powers and told him, “Go, and use your axe and bow to right the wrongs of this world. Wherever kings and princes usurp their power and exploit the poor and helpless, wherever such diabolical despots exist, do battle with them and destroy them.” And so Paraśurāma became a man.

So empowered, Paraśurāma returned to the ashram of his father, Jamadagni. In the time he had spent in the forest, his father had grown old. The saint Kashyapa was there as a guest in the ashrama, imparting the knowledge of the Vedas, which Paraśurāma absorbed completely. Now at this time, Jamadagni had acquired an amazing cow. This cow could give any quantity of milk desired and so had the name Kamadhenu, which means “wish-fulfilling cow.” When there was famine or drought, old Jamadagni’s cow came to the rescue. Kamadhenu was beloved by all. Everyone lived in peace, with the blessings of the mystic cow.

There was at this time a despotic king called Sahasra-Arjuna or Kartavirya Arjuna. He was the king of the ancient Haihaya kingdom and ruled the land on the banks of the great Narmada River with force and blood. Thousands were kidnapped and slaughtered during his rule. He destroyed forests, diverting the river for his own purposes. He demanded rice and gold in tribute for his enjoyment and was always intoxicated with wine.

This Kartavirya was a terrible monster. He had a thousand arms and with his arms moving like a great water wheel, he drove the waters of the Narmada backwards and destroyed farmlands. Kartavirya drove a gold chariot through the skies and conquered the earth by slaughtering all before him. One of his great enemies was the ten-headed demon Ravana.  When the two clashed, Kartavirya humiliated the ten-headed Ravana.

The thousand armed Kartavirya Vs. Ten-headed Ravana

One day this terrible and diabolical king rode his golden chariot down the river by the bamboo forest where the tigers hid and the elephants played. He brought thousands of hungry warriors, terrifying the women who washed their laundry in the Narmada. The monkeys hid in the mango trees and the cranes by the river scattered at the thunderous sound of Kartavirya’s soldiers, marching by the riverside and banging their axes against their shields.  

Parashuram confronts Kartavirya

The great and diabolical king sent messengers to the ashram of Jamadagni, demanding milk and rice for his hungry troops. And when it was found that the cow of Jamadagni had the mystic power of feeding thousands, Kartavirya demanding this cow for himself and took it by force from this humble sage, laughing at him, humiliating him, insulting his sons and the women.

The soldiers of Kartavirya carried off the helpless cow. These ruthless warriors had a great feast by the riverside, killing deer and roasting them in a huge fire, laughing, drinking wine, singing lewd songs and making merry. Some of the soldiers returned to the ashram of Jamadagni. They wanted to kidnap his wife Renuka and use her as a dancing girl at the feast.

When they found Jamadagni alone and he resisted them, the fierce soldiers of the diabolical king tortured and wounded the father of Paraśurāma. The murderous warriors of the Haihaya kshatriyas continued for three days, despoiling virgins, ruining the rice paddies by their thunderous marching, killing animals, and insulting the humble brahmaṇas who lived on the banks of the Narmada.

Paraśurāma returned home to find his mother Renuka crying. He had heard the violence, but asked his mother, “What happened?” “They took Kamadhenu, and then they attacked your father.” said the young princess, weeping to her astonished son. "There he lies, close to death."

With this, Paraśurāma, the son of Jamadagni, trained in the art of war by Shiva, the destroyer of worlds, became enraged. While he had been born a humble brahmaṇa, poised in forgiveness, he still had the blood of a warrior. He had killed before in obedience to his father, and now, the time had come to chastise the ruthless princes who had abused the poor brahmaṇas who lived quietly on the banks of the Narmada. Taking up the axe and magical bow given him by Shiva, Paraśurāma set out to avenge the insults to his father and his brutal murder by the ruthless soldiers.

“So he came, armed and bloodthirsty, past the tall bamboo where tigers hide in wait for thirsty elephants. The tiger like Paraśurāma, invincible in battle, lusty for blood, enraged at the murder of his father came against those drunken soldiers, sleepy with liquor, intoxicated by sex and wine. While they were numbers in thousands, he hacked with his mighty battle-axe and tore them limb from limb, five at a time.

Parashurama Vs. Kartavirya