Parasurama Avatara
In PARASURAMA Avatar, Lord Vishnu incarnates himself as a brahmana (priest) in this world. He was brought in this world to avenge all kshatriyas who had become arrogant and were suppressing the brahmans in the world. Because Parashurama was always carrying 'Parashu', an axe (presented to him by Lord Shiva of whom he was an ardent devotee), which he used to carry around since his childhood, he was known as 'Parashurama'.
A 'rishi' (sage) named Rucheeka married "Satyavathi", the daughter of King Gandhi, a king of Chandravamsa. The couple had no children for some time. King Gandhi also had only one daughter and no sons. He was worried that there will be no succeesor to the throne. His daughter also knew of his father's worry. Satyavati requested her husband, Sage Rucheeka to bless her and her mother that they might be blessed with male children to perpetuate the family. The sage gave them a consecrated herbal concoction separately to each and asked them to drink it. Satyavati's mother, thinking that the sage may have given her daughter something special, took the offering intended for her daughter, while the latter consumed that meant for her mother. Thus the sage's offerings were reversed in consumption.
Both became pregnant in due course. Rucheeka noticed 'Kshatriya' (royal) brightness on the face of his wife and was surprised. By his insight, he understood the reason, and upon his mentioning this to Satyavati, she realized the mishap. She prayed that her son might become a sage and the grandson a valiant royal hero. Her husband blessed her accordingly. Rucheeka's son was Jamadagni and Jamadagni's son was Parashurama. Parashurama's mother was Renuka. She was the adopted daughter of king Prasenajit. She had married sage Jamadagni and was serving him faith fully. She had Parashurama and four other sons Rumanvanta, Sushena, Vasu and Vishwavasu.
Several incidents enraged Parashurama, forcing him into the vow of getting rid of Kshatriya families from this land.
One of them goes like this: There was a king named Kritaveerya belonging to the Lunar Race (Chandra Vamsa). Born to him was Kartaveeryarjuna, a heroic personality. He had worshipped Lord Dattatreya and been blessed with invincibility. He possessed the strength of a thousand arms on the battlefront. Puffed with ego due to the newfound powers acquired by him, he became tyrannical and began tormenting every one. One day Kartaveeryarjuna went on a gaming expedition to the forest accompanied by his huge army. After the expedition had progressed for some time he began to feel hungry and thirst, and they sighted the ashram of Jamadagni. When the king arrived there the sage extended him a warm welcome. Jamadagni was in penance at the time, and had the "wish fulfilling" divine cowKamadhenu sent by Indra, assisting him in his penance. The sage requested the divine cow to oblige him by helping to arrange for a sumptuous lunch to treat his royal guests. Soon, the ceremonial lunch was ready.After such a wonderful feast, his guest asked him how he could arrange such a festive meal at such a short notice "O king, this is the grace of Kamadhenu. The cow can bestow any favor instantly. All these are her blessings", replied Jamadagni.
A strong selfish desire gripped the king and he requested Sage Jamadagni to hand the cow over to him. In return, he offered the sage many gifts. The sage replied: "O king, I have no right to present her to anyone else. Please don't ask for her." The arrogant king was angry. He ordered his soldiers to take the cow by force and they tied her and drove away to the capital Mahishmati. Jamadagni was distressed. By this time, Parashurama who had gone to the woods to collect material for sacrificial worship (Yajna) returned and learnt about the king's actions.Enraged, Parashurama decided to go in pursuit of Kartaveeryarjuna and bring Kamadhenu back. Armed with his sharp axe and bow and arrows, he left on the chase.
Kartaveeryarjuna's soldiers pounced upon Parashurama, but he confronted them boldly and began to chop them off mercilessly. Finally Kartaveeryarjuna himself appeared before Parashurama and the two were engaged in a fierce battle. Parashurama axed down the king's thousand arms and killed him. His sons and remaining soldiers ran for their lives leaving Kamadhenu behind. Parashurama brought her back and respectfully handed her over to his father.
There was this great story about Parashurama's devotion towards his father. One pleasant day in spring, Renuka, the devoted wife of Jamadagni, went with a pot to the Ganga river to get water for her husband's fire worship. The Ganga was flowing majestically. At that time a 'Gandharva' (celestial being) named Chitraratha was enjoying a festive bath and was engaged in frolic with his wives. Renuka was watching these activities and somewhat got mesmerized and after a while awakened and hurried with the pot of water back to her husband. Jamadagni visualized the reason for his wife's delayed arrival. He was angered at her becoming 'impure' by witnessing Chitraratha with unbecoming interest. He called out his sons and ordered them to kill her. The children were shocked; How can they kill their own mother? They stood transfixed. Jamadagni was now furious at his sons were not obeying him. Parashurama returned after a while, and Jamadagni asked him to kill his mother and also the disobedient brothers. Parashurama did not hesitate even for a moment. Readily he raised his axe, chopped off his mother's head and later killed his brothers.As he bowed before his father in reverence, the latter's anger subsided. Jamadagni said: "My son, your devotion has pleased me. Tell me what is your desire and I shall fulfill it." Parashurama replied, "O father, nothing satisfies me more than fulfilling your desire. If you want to grant me boons, please forgive my mother and brothers for their disobedience and kindly bring them back to life." So did Jamadagni.Renuka and her sons came back to life. This is how Parashurama saved his mother and brothers.
At the same time, the sons of Kartaveeryarjuna were waiting to seek revenge for their father's death. But having once faced the wrath of the axe-wielding Parashurama, they were afraid to confront him again, so they conceived a secret plan. When Parashurama, accompanied by his brothers, had gone out on an errand, the sons of Kartaveeryarjuna attacked the hermitage of Jamadagni. The sage was sitting in meditation. Renuka, pleaded with them to spare the life of her husband. But her plea went unheeded. Jamadagni was beheaded and his skull was taken away by his attackers and the ashram was destroyed. Hearing their mother's wails, Parashurama and his brothers rushed to the place, and were shocked to see the body of their father lying in a pool of blood with his head missing.Their mother had lost consciousness and collapsed. The children helped her to regain consciousness. She wept and narrated the happenings. Parashurama did not sit quietly and cry. Reddened with anger, Parashurama picked up his axe and hurried towards Mahishmati.
On reaching the city, he butchered the guards and stalked to the palace like an enraged lion. There he destroyed the whole army, killed all the princes, picked up his father's head and returned to the ashram. There the children performed all the obsequies in honor of the departed soul.
Even after this, Parashurama's wrath did not subside. He felt uneasy and full of anguish whenever he saw his sorrowful mother. He thought that all the kings are evil. Finally, Parashurama vowed to destroy the entire kingly class. He blamed them for his father's death and for his mother's suffering. Carrying the axe on his shoulder, he traversed the earth twenty-one times and chopped off all the arrogant Kshatriya, wiping out the entire royalty.
It is said Parashurama built lakes out of the blood of the evil princes he killed. There he prayed for peace to his father's soul. He conducted 'ASHWAMEDHA', 'VAJAPEYA' and other sacrifices to purify himself and gifted the land he had acquired to the priestly men who had come to these sacrifices.
When Parashurama decided to build a hermitage for himself, a problem confronted him. He had given away all the land he had acquired. Now, any plot upon which he settled down would mean his taking back the land he had donated, and it would be a wrongful act. He then found a solution for the problem. He threw his axe into the sea and requested the King of the Ocean to give him land up to the spot where the axe hit the seawaters. There he built his ashram. This came to be known as 'Parashurama Srishti'. It is an age-old belief that this stretch of land would always be prosperous and no drought or disease would ever affect the region.
Though bloody, Parashurama's rebellion contains many instances of his submission to 'Dharma'. He did not kill those kings who performed religious sacrifices (yajnas) and he did not kill married princes. He did not attack women.
There is story of Parashurama appearing in RAMAYANA also: Lord Rama, broke the 'Shiva Dhanush' (bow of Shiva), in the court of King Janaka, at the swayamvara of Sita. Parashurama, upon learning of Sri Rama's breaking the bow, became angry. Parashurama had learnt archery from Lord Shiva. Added to his anger was the fact that a Kshatriya prince had accomplished the feat. As Sri Rama was heading toward Ayodhya with his father Dasharatha, wife Sita and others, Parashurama confronted them and a battle ensued between him and Sri Rama. The former wielded his axe while Sri Rama replied with his famous 'KODANDA' bow. As they stood confronting each other their eyes met; and both instantly realized that they were the incarnations of the same Supreme Power. The Vishnu-part of Parashurama merged itself with Sri Rama's personality. Parashurama realized that his incarnation had come to an end and returned to his hermitage in the Mahendra Mountain.
Parashurama in MAHABHARATA: There was a king ruling Kashi (Benaras). He had three daughters named Amba, Ambika and Ambalika. when they reached marriageable age, the king arranged a Swayamvara for finding bridegrooms for them. The contenders had to participate in a battle and the victorious princes would marry the princesses. When Bhishma came to know of the 'Swayamvara' of the Kashi king's daughters, he thought it would be a good idea to marry the girls to his brother. He attended the assembly, defeated all other princes, brought the three princesses, and asked his brother Vichitravirya to marry them.
Ambika and Ambalika agreed for this proposal. However, Amba, from the beginning, wanted to marry the king of Salwa. She requested Bhishma to send her to that prince. He accordingly agreed and sent her away. But the Salwa king refused to marry her as she had been taken away after victory in a contest. Amba came back to Bhishma and entreated him to marry her. He refused her, because of his vow.
Amba knew that Bhishma highly respected Parashurama and would not say 'no' to the his words. So she went to him and narrated her story. Parashurama then accompanied her to see Bhishma and asked him to marry her. Bhishma replied that he cannot do so, as it would be breaking his vow. Parashurama and Bhishma engaged themselves in a battle and the fighting went on for many days. Both were valiant and could not be vanquished. Ultimately, they stopped fighting and returned to their places. Amba, a dejected damsel, threw herself into fire and died.
Then there was another story about him and his disciple, Karna. Parashurama had learnt archery from Lord Shiva himself and had mastered all the fine points of that discipline. Many young men were coming to him for training in the art of archery. But Parashurama would not teach the Kshatriya. Karna desired that he should learn archery from Parashurama. Karna decided to act as a Brahmin boy and went to Parashurama. Parashurama taught Karna and in fact was very pleased to notice the keen interest and capabilities of Karna. He became a particularly beloved pupil of Parashurama and continued his training to reach greater heights.
Indra, the king of the Devas, had a special affection towards Arjuna (Arjuna had been born to Pandava's mother Kunti by Indra's blessings). Indra knew that Pandavas had to wage a war against their cousins, the Kauravas, and that Karna would play a major role in that war. He was afraid that if Karna learned all the fine points of archery from Parashuram, he would become invincible and might pose a threat to Arjuna in the war. He decided that Karna had to be vanquished so as to ward off danger to Arjuna.
Inorder to achive this goal, Indra came with a devious plan. One day, Parashurama, resting his head on the lap of Karna, was sleeping. Indra assumed the form of a diamond-sharp insect and began bite into the flesh of Karna's lap. But Karna was worried that if he moved in discomfort, or pain, that would disturb the Guru' sleep. He suffered all the severe pain of the insect's biting. His lap began to bleed, and as the floor got wet with blood, Parashurama suddenly woke up. He saw his disciple is sitting quiet, while his lap was bleeding. He was suffering such great pain silently. A doubt confronted Parashurama; Only a Kshatriya could suffer such pain in silence, not a brahmin. The boy must be a Kshatriya; he had deceived him and learnt archery.
Parashurama was furious, and he cursed: "Let the training you have had from me be of no use to you when you desperately need it." Later, during the greatMahabharata war, during the fierce battle between Karna and Arjuna, the 'Nagaastra' (the serpent-arrow) let off by Karna failed to kill Arjuna and Karna also could not remember another great 'astra' taught by Parashurama. He succumbed to Arjuna's arrows, and died.
According to our traditional belief, Ashwatthama, Bali, Vyasa, Hanuman, Vibhishana, Kripa and Parashurama - these are the seven eternal, ageless, and immortal souls. It is believed Parashurama is sitting even today in penance at Mahendra Mountain in great penance. Not for himself, but for the peace and happiness of the whole world.
It is considered that this Avatar is not a direct Avatar. Lord Vishnu entered the soul of a Brahmin son of Jamadagni (By Avesa or Anupravesa). Of the 10 Avatars, except Parasurama avatar, all the others are Amsa avatars, i.e., Direct descent of Lord Vishnu.
No comments:
Post a Comment