Lord Parshuram was the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He took this incarnation in Treta Yuga. He made Lord Shiva his deity and worshiped him. His main weapon is Farsa or Paras. In all his pictures, he always has Parshu i.e. Axe in one hand, from which he got the name Parshuram. His birth is marked as the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It is believed that his birth was predicted even before his incarnation when the Chhatriya kings started doing unrighteousness in the society. They had increased the rule of unrighteousness on the earth by misusing their power. Then Then Lord Parshuram in his incarnation destroys the Kshatriya kings 21 times for the establishment of Dharma and re-establishes Dharma.
His nature was in the form of a very angry God. His wrathful nature many times destroyed unrighteousness and many times his anger made some important events memorable. The dialogue between Lakshman and Parshuram in Ramayana is still read as a famous incident. Along with this, he was also the teacher of Mahabharata’s great warrior Pitamah Bhishma, Angraj Karna and Guru Dronacharya. His whole life has been as a celibate saint. When he destroyed the Kshatriyas, then he donated this earth to the Brahmins, after which it is said that he never rested again on the earth at night. He had gained the power to walk at the speed of the mind by his tapobal.
He is counted among the Charanjeevi deities – that is, those who are immortal. You will find the description of Lord Parshuram both in Treta Yuga and Dwapar Yuga. His description also comes in Ramayana and Mahabharata. According to the Kalika Purana, he would be the guru of Lord Vishnu during his tenth incarnation.
Early Life of Lord Parshram
Lord Parshuram, the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, was born on the Tritiya Tithi of Shukla Paksha in the month of Vaishakh. His father sage Jamadagni was a Brahmin and his mother’s name was Renuka. They were five brothers whose names are as follows:-
- Rukmawan
- Sukhen
- Vasu
- Vishvaanas
- Parshuram
This story begins with his grandmother Satyavati who was the daughter of a king named Gandhi in ancient Kannauj. King Garhi married her to the son of Bhrigu Rishi. After marriage, Bhrigu Rishi came to give boon and blessings to his daughter-in-law. Seeing Maharishi Bhrigu happy, Satyavati asked him for a son’s boon for her mother. Sage Bhrigu was pleased and gave two vessels of Charu to Satyavati and asked her to take or eat both separately.
When his mother saw that the sage Bhrigu had given her two pots of charu for the best child, she consumed the charu from Satyavati’s share with her own. Sage Bhrigu came to know this with his yoga power and told this incident to Satyavati and said – Your mother has cheated your share of Charu and you have consumed her share. Due to this your son will be born in a Brahmin clan but his behavior will be like a Kshatriya.
After knowing this incident, Satyavati prayed to sage Bhrigu – that her grandson’s nature may be like a Kshatriya but her son’s nature should remain like a Brahmin. Sage Bhrigu gave such a blessing to Satyavati. Later, sage Jamadagni was born as a son at Satyavati’s place and his son who became Lord Parshuram was born. According to the statement of Bhrigu Rishi, Lord Parshuram was a Brahmin by caste but his behavior was like a Kshatriya.
Birth place of Lord Parshuram
There is no solid evidence regarding the birthplace of Lord Parshuram. But there is a lot of belief about two places in India that he was born here.
According to a belief, his place of birth was at Janapav mountain in present-day Manpur village of Indore city of Madhya Pradesh. According to another belief, it took place in Kalcha, a village situated amidst dense forests in Surguja district of Chhattisgarh state of present-day India. There is also an archeological site on it which is also called Shatmahala. It is believed that Maharishi Jamadagni resided at this place with his wife Renuka and gave birth to Lord Parshuram here.
Education of Parshuram
Lord Parshuram had acquired his education in childhood itself. He took education from his parents. Apart from humans, he understood the language of animals and birds as well and he could also talk to them. Then later he worshiped Lord Shiva and got the Farsa / Axe as a weapon from Lord Shiva. After which people gave him the name of Parshuram. Although he was also given a bow by Lord Shiva which was mentioned in Ramayana and Lord Rama broke the same bow.
Killing of Mata Renuka
Parshuram ji once kills his own mother Renuka by the order of his father Maharishi Jamadagni. According to the story of Shrimad Bhagwat, once Mata Renuka went to the river to bring water for the Havan of her husband Maharishi Jamdagni. There Gandharbharaj Chitrarath was enjoying with his Apsara. Mother Renuka became weak on seeing whom and she stayed there for some time, because of which the time for Havan passed. Maharishi Jamadagni became very angry with his behavior and decided to give him death sentence for anti-decency behavior and mental adultery.
He ordered his sons to punish their mother by beheading her, but his four sons did not have the courage to behead their own mother. In this way, seeing his father’s order being disobeyed, he obeyed his father and cut off his mother’s head. Seeing this, Maharishi Jamdagni is very pleased with Parshuram ji and asks him to ask for a boon, on which he requests to revive his mother again and also urges him not to remember this incident. After which Maharishi Jamdagni revives his wife Renuka.
Parshuram's Revenge
Parshuram’s anger or vengeance which is also his identity, which is not hidden from anyone. At that time, a lot of war broke out with the Kshatriyas, due to which he made the earth devoid of Kshatriyas 21 times.
The incident begins with Sahastrarjuna of the Haihay dynasty, who pleased Lord Dattatreya and received a boon from him to never be defeated in a battle with a thousand arms. Then one day Sahastrarjuna goes to the hermitage of sage Jamdagni while hunting in the forest. There he insults Maharishi Jamdagni and snatches his Kapila Kamdhenu cow. When Dev Parshuram comes to know about this, he becomes very angry with Sahastrarjuna and fights with him to punish him. In that war, he cuts off all the arms of Sahastrarjuna and later gives death sentence.
When Sahastrarjuna is killed, his sons decide to avenge their father’s death. Then one day after getting that opportunity he enters the hut of Rishi Jamdagni where Maharishi Jamdagni is in meditation, and at that time Parshuram is also not in the hut. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he kills Maharishi Jamadagni in his state of meditation. His wife Renuka attained chastity after her husband’s death by entering into the fire of her husband.
As a retribution for this, Parshuram ji kills all the sons of Sahastrarjuna and also takes possession of his city. He also performs his father’s shraadh with Sahastrarjuna’s blood in the fire of his anger. After that he kills the Kshatriyas 21 times. Maharishi Richik appeared and stopped him from doing this.
After this he performs Ashwamedha Yajna and sacrifices his weapon in front of Devraj Indra. Then after this he donates the whole earth to Maharishi Kashyap. After that he made his cottage on Mahendra mountain and started living there. After that he never rested on this earth at night.
Parshuram In Hindu Epic
Parshuram in Ramayana
Lord Parshuram is one of the Chiranjeevi avatars. He was there during Treta also. This thing is mentioned in Ramayana. When Lord Rama broke the bow in Maharaja Janaka’s Swayamvara, its thunderous sound was heard till Mount Mahendra where Parshuram was in meditation. He saw this act as anti-Shiva and had come to Janak’s court to punish Lord Rama and Lakshmana. Where he and Laxman ji had a satirical dialogue which is quite famous. Then when Lord Ram showed his true form, then he calmed down. His anger turned into blessings when he saw the Lord in the form of Rama.
Parshuram in Mahabharat
The description of Parshuram ji also comes in Mahabharata. He was also the teacher of the 3 great warriors of Mahabharata.
Pitamah Bhishma :-
He was one of the greatest warriors of Mahabharata. He was blessed with euthanasia by his father Santanu. Parshuram ji was his teacher. According to the Mahabharata, once there was a war between Bhishma and Lord Parshuram for 23 days. The main reason for this was that when grandfather Bhishma refused to adopt the Amba salt princess, she went to Lord Parshuram for revenge and sought justice from him. On which the war between Lord Parshuram and Bhishma went on for 23 days. Pitamah Bhishma had the boon of death at will, so this war remained inconclusive. Later the same Amba took birth as Shikhandini and became the reason for the death of grandfather Bhishma.
Guru Dronacharya :-
Guru Dronacharya was one of the greatest warriors of the Mahabharata. Apart from this, he was also the teacher of Pandavas and Kauravas. In the Mahabharata, after the death of grandfather Bhishma, he also became the commander-in-chief of the Kauravas. His teacher was also Parshuram ji. According to the story of Mahabharata, when once Guru Dronacharya Parshuram ji was asked for help, by then Lord Parshuram had donated everything. But he asked them to take weapons from their weapons. On which Guru Dronacharya asked him for all the weapons along with mantras so that he could use them when needed. Lord Parshuram grants a boon to Guru Dronacharya according to his wish.
Angraj Karn:-
Angraj Karna who was the most trusted friend of Duryodhana also had his Guru Parshuram. After the death of Guru Dronacharya in Mahabharata, he also became the commander-in-chief. According to the story of Mahabharata, when Karna went to Lord Parashurama to get the knowledge of weapon, then one day Lord Parashurama was sleeping with his head on his thigh, then at the same time a scorpion tried to disturb Karna by stinging Karna’s thigh. Karna kept on bearing that pain so that Lord Parshuram’s sleep would not be disturbed. When Karna’s flowing blood touched Guru Parshuram’s feet, he woke up. Due to which he understood that he is a Kshatriya who can bear such unbearable pain. After which he cursed Karna that the day he would need this knowledge very much, he would forget this knowledge on that day.
Parshuram Jayanti
Lord Parshuram is also called the God of justice. Even today in India, he is worshiped with great respect. His temples are built in many places in India. He is also called Father of Martial Arts because he has great knowledge of using Astro. Acharya and Adi Guru is the founder of Vadakkan Kalari, the northern style of martial art Kalaripayattu from the southern Indian state of Kerala. According to a story, he created a new land by moving the sea from Gujarat to Kerala with one of his arrows. They are called Goa, Konkan and Kerala of present India. Because of this, more followers are found in these areas. In India, the birthday of Lord Parshuram is celebrated as Parshuram Jayanti. According to the date of Hindu religion, Parshuram Jayanti is celebrated every year on Tirtiya Tithi, Shukla Paksha of Vaishakh month. This day is also called Akshaya Tirtiya. On this day there is also a government holiday in many places in India.
