Parashurama

Parshuram ( Parashurama, Parashuraman) (Malayalam:പരശുരാമൻ) is the sixth avatar of Vishnu, He is son of Renuka and thesaptarishi Jamadagni. He lived during the last Dvapara Yuga, and is one of the seven immortals or Chiranjivi, of Hinduism. He received an parashu(axe) after undertaking terrible penance to please Shiva, who in turn taught him the martial arts.

Parashurama is most known for ridding the world of

kshatriyas

twenty-one times over after the mighty king

Kartavirya

killed his father.

He played important roles in

the Mahabharata and Ramayana, serving as mentor to Bhishma, Karna and Drona. Parashurama also fought back the advancing seas to save the lands of Konkan, Malabar and Kerala.

Parashurama is worshipped as mool purush, or founder, of the Bhumihar Brahmin, Chitpavan, Daivadnya, Mohyal, Tyagi, Shukla,Awasthi, saryupareen, Kothiyal, Anavil, Nambudiri bhardwaj and gaud Brahmin communities.

The exact birthplace of Bhargav Parashurama is contested, although the history of his lineage took place in the Haihaya Kingdomlocated in modern day Maheshwar.

The grandfather of Bhargava Parashurama was a great rishi named Rucheeka, who was son of a famous sage Bhrigu. Parshuram is also the kul guru of Bhardwaj gotra. Parshuram belongs to a gaud Brahmin of bhargav gotra. One day, the rishi was traveling through the countryside seeking a bride. At the time, there were two dominant clans, the Bharat-Suryavamsha, or Solar Dynasty and the Chandra-vamsha, or Lunar Dynasty. The ruling King Gadhi belonged to the Lunar Dynasty and had a beautiful daughter, Satyavati, who was unwed. Rucheeka visited the king, who entertained him at his court. The rishi was besot with the beauty of Satyavati, and at the end of the evening he asked the king to have her as his bride.

The King was taken aback, but could not deny the request of a Brahmin. As such, he agreed to give his daughter away to the rishi, but on condition that Rucheeka give him one-thousand horses, all with one ear black and the body entirely white.

The rishi agreed to the demand of the king. He then did penance to Varuna, and was blessed with the horses that the king had requested. Rucheeka then married Satyavati after fulfilling wishes of the King.

Satyavati adjusted well to an ascetic life as she was blessed with a good countenance, but she did not have any children. Meanwhile, at the kingdom, her father had no heir to the throne as well, and this also worried Satyavati. One day, Rucheeka asked her what was wrong, and she told him of her concerns for the kingdom.[2]

Then Bhrigu helped both Satyavati and her mother. He gave Satyavati two potions, one for her mother so that she would have a mighty Kshatriya son, and one for Satyavati so that she would have a son that would become a great sage. Satyavati gave the potions to her mother. However, not trusting the sage, her mother switched the containers.[3]

In time, both mother and daughter found they were expecting children. However, the sage noticed that when he looked at his wife he saw a Kshatriya aura, and he asked what had happened. Satyavati told Rucheeka, to which he responded, 'Now our son will be a great warrior instead of a sage." Satyavati begged the rishi to instead make her grandson become the great warrior and her son a rishi. Seeing her distress, Rucheeka acquiesced. Satyavati gave birth to a son,Jamadagni, who became a great saptarishi, while her grandson Bhargav was sixth incarnation of Vishnu, and one of the greatest warriors of all ages.[2]

Birth

The exact location of his birth is contested, although puranas claim that he was born at Renuka Tirth as the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu.[4] His father, Jamadagni, was a direct descendant of Brahma. Renuka gave birth to four sons before Parashurama: Vasu, Viswa Vasu, Brihudyanu, and Brutwakanwa. Before the birth of their fifth son, Jamadagni meditated with his wife Renuka at Tape Ka Tiba near Renuka lake for divine providence. With the blessing of Shiva, Vishnu answered their wishes and was born from the womb of Renuka as their fifth and youngest son, whom they named Rambhadra, or Rama.[5]

Renuka and the clay pot

Renuka was known for her chastity and devotion to her husband. Such was her faith, that she was able to fetch water from the river in a pot of unbaked clay, with the pot held together only by the strength of her devotion.

One day while at the river, a group of Gandharvas in a chariot passed by in the sky above. Filled with desire for only a moment, the unbaked pot she held dissolved in the river. Afraid to return to her husband, she waited at the river bank, uncertain of what to do next.[6] Meanwhile, Jamadagni noticed his wife had not returned. Through his yogic powers, he divined all that had taken place and was enraged. The rishi called his eldest son, handed him an axe and asked the boy to kill his mother. Horrifed, the boy refused, and so Jamadagni turned him to stone. He then asked each of his sons, and as they refused, one by one, he turned them to stone. Finally only his youngest son, Parashurama, was left. Ever obedient, the boy beheaded his mother.[5]

Pleased, Jamadagni then offered two boons to Parashurama. The boy asked that his mother be brought back to life, and his brothers to be returned from stone to flesh. Impressed by the affection and devotion of his son, Jamadagni granted his request.[6]

Getting the Divine weapon Parashu from Lord Shiva

Shri Parashuram left home to do devout austerities to please Lord Shiva. Considering his extreme devotion, intense desire and unmoved and perpetual meditation, Lord Shiva was pleased with Shri Parashuram. He presented Shri Parashuram with Divine weapons. Included was His unconquerable and indestructible axe shaped weapon, Parashu. Lord Shiva advised him to go and liberate the Mother Earth from felons, ill-behaved people, extremists, demons and those blind with pride.

Once, Lord Shiva challenged Shri Parashuram to a battle to test his skills in warfare. The spiritual master Lord Shiva and the disciple Shri Parashuram were locked in a fierce battle. This dreadful duel lasted for twenty one days. While ducking to avoid being hit by the Trident (Trishūl) of Lord Shiva, Shri Parashuram vigorously attacked Him with his Parashu. It struck Lord Shiva on the forehead creating a wound. Lord Shiva was very pleased to see the amazing warfare skills of His disciple. He passionately embraced Shri Parashuram. Lord Shiva preserved this wound as an ornament so that the reputation of his disciple remained imperishable and insurmountable. 'Khanda-parshu' (wounded by Parashu) is one of the thousand names (for the salutation) of Lord Shiva.

Getting Vijaya bow from Lord Indra

Shri Parashuram, clipped the thousand arms of Sahasrarjun, one by one, with his Parashu and killed him. He repelled his army by showering arrows on them. The whole country greatly welcomed the destruction of Sahasrarjun. The king of Deities, Indra was so pleased that he presented His most beloved bow named Vijaya to Shri Parashuram. Lord Indra had destroyed demon dynasties with this bow. By the fatal arrows shot with the help of this Vijaya bow, Shri Parashuram destroyed the miscreant Kshatriyas twenty one times. Later Shri Parashuram presented this bow to his disciple Karna when he was pleased with his intense devotion to the Guru. Karna became unconquerable with help of this bow Vijaya presented to him by Shri Parashuram.

Kartavirya Arjuna and the Haihaya Kingdom

Main articles: Kartavirya Arjuna and Haihayas

The time of Parashurama was a tumultuous one for the Indian subcontinent, with puranas indicating frequent battles between several rival Kshatriya clans and kingdoms. Parashurama lived within the Haihaya kingdom, located in modern day Maheshwar on the banks of the Narmada River. The generations of enmity between the KshatriyaHaihaya and the Brahmin Bhargavas, from whom Parashurama hailed, were mentioned in the Mahabharata numerous times.

Dattatreya, embodiment of the holy trinity Trimurti, whom Kartavirya worshiped and who would later deliver the Tripura Rahasya to Parasurama

The Haihaya were ruled by a powerful and cruel king named Kartavirya Arjuna.[8] He was the incarnation of Sudarshana, Lord Vishnu's Celestial weapon, Chakra that had taken birth in human form.[2] In addition, Kartavirya worshipped a divine being known as Dattatreya, embodiment ofTrimurti and descendant of the saptarishi Atri. For his obeisance, Dattatreya had granted the king a flying golden chariot that would travel wherever he wished, and one-thousand arms.

With these boons, Kartavirya became immeasurably powerful, conducting many military conquests after which he made Mahishmati in present day Maheshwar capital of his kingdom. Kartavirya became so powerful that he was even able to defeat and imprison the demon king Ravana at the river Godavari. Ravana, in turn, would later be the nemesis of the Ramayana.

Genocide of the Bhrigu and the sacred calf[edit]

The violent persecution of Brahmins by Kshatriya had at the time spanned generations. Aurva, great-grandfather of Parashurama, recalled a vivid childhood experience:

While lying unborn, I heard the doleful cries of my mother and other women of the Bhrigu race who were then being exterminated by the Kshatriyas. When those Kshatriyas began to exterminate the Bhrigus together with unborn children of their race, it was then that wrath filled my soul. My mother and the other women of our race, each in an advanced state of pregnancy, and my father, while terribly alarmed, found not in all the worlds a single protector. Then when the Bhrigu women found not a single protector, my mother held me in one of her thighs.

—Mahabharata

As the third book of the Mahabharata begins, Akritavrana, a disciple of the avatar speaks:

With pleasure shall I recite that excellent history of the godlike deeds of Rama, the son of Jamadagni who traced his origin to the race of Brighu.

—Mahabharata

Paraśhurāma fighting the thousand-armed king Kartavirya

As Rama grew older, he was sincere in his piety, and pleased Lord Shiva with the performation of excruciating tapas. As blessing, he was granted the Parashu of Shiva, after which he was known as Parashurama, or 'Rama with axe'.

Soon after Parashurama received his blessing, King Kartavirya of the Haihaya came upon the hermitage of Jamadagni The visit happened at a time Parusharama was away in the forest gathering yagna, and although the king had a massive entourage, the saptarishi was able to serve the king a grand feast. When Kartavirya asked how he was able to do so, Jamadagni showed him a blessed Kamadhenu calf, given to Jamadagni by Indra, which was able to grant wishes. Kartavirya was covetous and wanted the calf as his own. The rishi refused, and Kartavirya stole the sacred animal.

Returning home, Parashurama was infuriated and traveled to the royal palace. Brandishing his axe, he decimated its guards and killed the mighty King Kartavirya, retrieving the calf. When he returned home, his father was pleased, but seeing the blood stained axe of Parashurama, also concerned. He cautioned his son he must be aware of wrath and pride. Parashurama accepted the reprimand of his father, in penance, and went on a pilgrimage to holy places for one year in purification.

Meanwhile, the sons of Kartavirya discovered their father at the palace and knew that only Parashurama could have killed him. In revenge, they traveled to the hermitage and murdered Jamadagni, surrounding the rishi and shooting him to death with arrows like a stag. Afterwards, they decapitated his body and took his head with them.

When Parashurama returned home, he found his mother next to the body of his father, crying hysterically as she beat her chest twenty-one times in a row. Furious, he hunted down the sons of Kartavirya at the palace. He killed them all and returned with the head of his father to conduct the cremation. Parashurama then vowed to enact a genocide on the war-mongering Kshatriyas twenty-one times over, once for each time the hand of his mother hit her chest.

Parashurama returning with the sacred calf with Jamadagni cautioning him to not be controlled by anger

Vengeance against Kshatriya

Parashurama then travelled the whole of Earth, killing all men of the Kshatriya caste, guilty or innocent.The first book of the Mahabharata writes:

In the interval between the Treta and Dwapara Yugas, Parashurama, great among all who have borne arms, urged by impatience of wrongs, repeatedly smote the noble race of Kshatriyas. And when that fiery meteor, by his own valour, annihilated the entire tribe of the Kshatriyas, he formed at Samanta-panchaka five lakes of blood.

One legend describes Parasharuma returning to a village after battle in what is now the Badami Taluka, Bagalkot district of Karnataka. While the warrior-sage washed his axe beyond a sharp turn in the river Malaprabha, unknown to him, village women were cleaning their clothes downstream. His mighty axe stained the entire river red, and the women exclaimed "Ai hole!" translating to 'Oh, what a river!'. This is said to be the etymology of the present-day village Aihole.

There is another legend that some of the fisherman community of Kerala who were settled in the coastal areas, receiving word as Parashurama approached, took the fisherman thread split it into two sacred threads that marked them twice-born, hid them in the forest and traveled south. Parashurama then gave their land to them.

After he had finally rid the world of Kshatriyas, Parashurama conducted the Ashvamedha sacrifice, done only by sovereign kings, and gave the land he had conquered to the Brahmin head-priests, who performed the yagya Kashyapa. After seeing the bad condition of some Brahmins in northern India involved in priestly services Parshuram gave him the land that he had conquered. The Ashvamedha demanded that the remaining Kshatriya kings either submit to Parashurama, or stop the sacrifice by defeating him in battle. They were unable to do either, and so perished.

Ramayana

Parashurama is unique in that although he is the sixth avatar of Vishnu, as an immortal, he has also lived to see the subsequent incarnations of Vishnu in Rama and Krishna. Parashurama played an important role in both the Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Meeting of Rama and Parashurama

In the Ramayana, Parashurama had given the bow of Shiva to the father of princess Sita for her swayamvar. As a test of worthiness, suitors were asked to lift and string the mystic weapon. None were successful until Rama, but in the process of being strung, the bow snapped in half. This produced a tremendous noise that reached the ears of Parashurama as he meditated atop the Mahendra Mountains.

In Valmiki Ramayana, Parashurama stops the journey of Sri Rama and his family after his marriage to Sita. He threatens to kill Sri Rama and his father, King Dasharatha, begs him to forgive his son and punish him instead. Parashurama neglects Dasharatha and invokes Sri Rama for a challenge. Sri Rama meets his challenge and tells him that he does not want to kill him because he is a Brahmin and related to his guru, Vishwamitra maharshi. But, he destroys his merit earned through penances. Thus, Parashurama's arrogance gets diminished and he returns to his normal mind.[10]

In one version played in Ramlilas across India, Parashurama arrived to the scene deeply angry. The Kshatriyas were advised by Brahmarishi Vasistha not to confront the sage, but Sita still approached. Parashurama blessed her, saying "Dheergha Sumangali bhavah," or "You will have your husband alive for your lifetime."

When he then turned to confront Rama, Parashurama was unable to lift his axe. He was held back by his own word and pacified by the brilliance of Rama. When the warrior-sage realized he was looking at his own subsequent reincarnation, his own bow flew to Rama along with the essence of Vishnu, and thus the seventh avatar was fully realized.

Mahabharata

Vow of Bhishma

Bhishma taking the bhishana pratigya

Parashurama and Bhishma, two of the greatest warriors of the epics, shared an interesting history together as guru and student. Bhishma was a Kuru prince, and Parashurama instructed him in the martial arts as a boy. Their conflict began years later, with the beautiful princess Amba. Along with her sisters Ambika and Ambalika, princess Amba had been abducted by Bhishma in a misunderstanding between two kingdoms. Now, with her honor tainted, no man would take her for bride, and she was condemned to remain destitute. Bhishma himself was unable to marry due to his bhishana pratigya, or vow of celibacy, and allegiance to Hastinapur. Amba then sought the help of Parashurama to kill Bhishma.

Taking pity on her plight, the avatar agreed to fight his former student on her behalf. The battle lasted twenty-three days, by the end of which, both warriors were bloodied and filled with arrows. Bhishma had knowledge of the divine deadly weapon pashupatastra, which is considered the most powerful weapon of Shiva and of which Parashurama was unaware. When he was about to use the celestial weaponry, all Gods rushed to Bhishma and asked him to hold his hand, as it would humiliate his guru. Out of respect, Bhishma acquiesced.

Pitrs then appeared and obstructed the chariot of Parashurama, forbidding him from fighting any longer. The spirit of Parashurama's father, Jamadagni and his grandfather, Rucheeka, spoke to him:

O son, never again engage in battle with Bhishma or any other Kshatriya. Heroism and courage in battle are the qualities of a Kshatriya, and study of the Vedas and the practice of austerities are the wealth of the Brahmans. Previously, you took up weapons to protect the Brahmans, but this is not the case now. Let this battle with Bhishma be your last. O son of the Bhrigu race, it is not possible to defeat Bhishma.

—Mahabharata

In the end, the Gods showered praise on Bhishma, and he sought the blessing of Parashurama as his guru. The avatar then acknowledged that his former student was truly invincible, telling Amba:

Using even the very best of weapons I have not been able to obtain any advantage over Bhishma, that foremost of all wielders of weapons! I have exerted now to the best of my power and might. Seek the protection of Bhishma himself, thou hast no other refuge now.

—Mahabharata

Mentorship of Drona

At the end of his time in the Vedic period, Parashurama was renouncing his possessions to take sanyasi. As the day progressed, Drona, then a poor Brahmin, approached Parashurama asking for alms. By that time, the warrior-sage had already given the Brahmins his gold and Kasyapa his land, so all that was left were his body and weapons. Parushurama asked which Drona would have, to which the clever Brahmin responded:

O son of Bhrigu, it behoveth thee to give me all thy weapons together with the mysteries of hurling and recalling them.

—Mahabharata

Thus, Parashurama gave all his weapons unto Drona, making him supreme in the science of arms. This becomes crucial as Drona later became the guru to both the Pandavasand the Kauravas who fought against each other in the Kurukshetra War. It is said that Lord Parashurama carried Lord Vishnu's "Sudharshana Chakra" and "Bow" and Lord Balram's "Gadha" while they fulfill their education with Guru Sandeepani

Fate of Karna

Arjuna killing Karna while his back is turned

Karna was half brother to the Pandavas and the son of Surya, but was raised by a Suta charioteer. Karna went to Parashurama after being rejected by Drona who wished to imparted knowledge only to Kshatriyas and rejected Karna as the son of a Suta. Karna lies to Parasurama that he is a Brahmin and a descendant of Nrigu Maharish. Parashurama then acceptes him as his student and teaches him of all the powerful Brahmanda astra weapons. Parashurama trains Karna to such a point that he declares Karna to be equal to himself in the art of warfare and archery.

One day,as Parashurama slept,resting his head on the lap of Karna,a scorpion crawled up the leg of the student and bit Karna's thigh. In spite of the pain, Karna neither flinched nor cried to avoid disturbing his guru's rest. Warm blood, however, trickled down his leg and woke Parashurama. Convinced that only a Kshatriya could have borne such pain in silence, Parashurama realized that Karna had lied and cursed his student that his knowledge would fail him when it was most crucial. Upon Karna's pleading, Parshurama gifted him the celestial weapon called Bhargavastra, along with his personal bow called Vijaya, for being such a diligent student. [12]

Years later, during the Kurukshetra war, Karna had a dream in which he envisioned his guru and asked him to take back the curse he had placed years back. Parashurama revealed that he had known all along Karna was a Kshatriya, but because he was a worthy student Parashurama had instructed him regardless. The avatar explained to Karna that the Brahmanda astra had to fail him when he needed it most. If he killed Arjuna, Duryodhana would be king instead of Yudhishthira, and chaos would ensue. Parashurama asked Karna to accept his curse and asked him to die at the hands of Arjuna,so that the world might live in peace. Karna accepted his gurus words and in return the grateful guru, Parashurama blessed Karna with immortal glory and everlasting fame.

All three students of Parasuram - Bhishma, Drona and Karna fought on the Kaurava side (for different reasons) and were killed by unfair tricks.

Different epochs

There are a number of stories of Parashurama in different Puranas, detailing his interactions with different gods of the Hindu pantheon, and even occurring during different Yugadue to his being Chiranjivi.

Ekadanta

According to Puranas, Parashurama travelled to the Himalayas to pay respect to his teacher, Shiva. While travelling, his path was blocked by Ganesha, son of Shiva and Parvati. Parashurama threw his axe at the elephant-god. Ganesha, knowing the weapon had been given to Parashurama by his father, allowed it to sever his left tusk.

His mother Parvati was infuriated, and declared she would cut off the arms of Parashurama. She took the form of Durgama, becoming omnipotent, but at the last moment, Shiva was able to pacify her by making her see the avatar as her own son. Parashurama also asked her forgiveness, and she finally relented when Ganesha himself spoke on behalf of the warrior-saint. Parashurama then gave his divine axe to Ganesha and blessed him. Another name for Ganesha because of this encounter is Ekadanta, or 'One Tooth'.

Beating back the Arabian Sea

Lord Parashurama with Saraswat Brahmin settlers demanding Varunamake the seas recede to save the lands of Konkan and Kerala

Puranas write that the western coast of India was threatened by tumultuous waves and tempests, causing the land to be overcome by the sea. Parashurama fought back the advancing waters, demanding Varuna release the land of Konkan and Malabar. During their fight, Parashurama threw his axe into the sea. A mass of land rose up, but Varuna told him that because it was filled with salt, the land would be barren.

Parashurama then did a tapasya for Nagaraja, the King of Snakes. Parashurama asked him to spread serpents throughout the land so their venom would neutralize the salt filled earth. Nagaraja agreed, and a lush and fertile land grew. Thus, Parashurama pushed back the coastline between the foothills of the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea, creating modern day Kerala.

The coastal area of Kerala, Konkan, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, are today also known as Parashurama Kshetra or Land of Parashurama in homage.[14] Puranas record that Parashurama placed statues of Shiva at 108 different locations throughout the reclaimed land, which still exist today. Shiva, is the source of kundalini, and it around his neck that Nagaraja is coiled, and so the statues were in gratitude for their baneful cleansing of the land.

Then he took a winnowing basket, or Surpa, and threw it at the sea. The water retreated, and from the place the basket fell at Gokarna, land rose again. This land is called Kerala, or 'Siirparaka' (Brahmanda Purana, Chapters 98 and 99). It is also said that while beating back the sea, Parashurama fired an arrow from his mystical bow that landed in Goa at Benaulim, creating Salkache Tollem, or 'Lotus Lake'.

Request to Shiva

According to Hindu tradition, Parshurama reclaimed the land of Konkan after donating the earth to Maharshi Kashyap. Then he requested different Gods and Goddesses to settle in the newly created land and to take responsibility of various clans. Parshuram, being a devotee of Shiva, requested Shiva to give him audience everyday, while he is living in the newly created land. Lord Shiva accepted his request. Lord Parshuram also brought 60 'Vipras' to settle in Kokan. One such Vipra named 'Vyad' installed a Shivlinga at Guhagar. In this era, since evil thoughts are supposed to prevail, Gods are to remain in their invisible forms. Accordingly Lord Shiva decided to remain in invisible form in the Shivalinga installed by Vyad Muni. The same Shivalinga is this well known Vyadeshwar. Thus, Lord Shiva stays at Guhagar in the 'Vyadeshwar' Shivalinga from years together. According to another history, in the era of King Sakuran, the Vyadeshwar Shivalinga was re-invented and the Temple, which we see today, was constructed.

Rambhoja

Kshetra scripture has a legend in which a king named Ramabhoja worshipped Parashurama. He was the ruler of the lands between Gokarna and Kanyakumari and was proclaimed king of the entire Parashurama Kshetra. While performing aswamedha yajna, he was plowing the land, but mistakenly killed a snake that was a raksha in disguise. In repentance, Rambhoja was directed by Parashurama to build a rajathatpeetha, or large silver pedestal, with the image of a serpent at its four corners in obeisance. Parashurama also ordered that he distribute gold to the needy equal to his own weight as Tulabhara.

Rambhoja performed the ashwamedha yajna successfully and Parashurama appeared before him again, declaring that he was pleased. To this day, the silver pedestal remains a center of pilgrimage. The surrounding land is known as Thoulava, in remembrance of the Tulabhara of Rambhoja.

Surya

Surya, the sun god, riding across the sky in his chariot

Parashurama once became annoyed with the sun god Surya for making too much heat. The warrior-sage shot several arrows into the sky, terrifying Surya. When Parashurama ran out of arrows and sent his wife Dharani to bring more, the sun god then focused his rays on her, causing her to collapse. Surya then appeared before Parashurama and gave him two inventions that have since been attributed to the avatar, sandals and an umbrella.

Dattatreya

Nath tradition holds that Parashurama, after enacting his vengeance, sought out Dattatreya atop Mount Gandhamadana for spiritual guidance. Their conversations gave rise to Tripura-rahasya, a treatise on Advaita Vedanta. It was here the deity instructed the warrior-sage on knowledge of scripture, renunciation of worldly activities, and non-duality, thus freeing him from the karmic cycle of death and rebirth.

Kalaripayattu

Parashurama and the saptarishi Agastya are regarded as the founders of kalaripayattu, the oldest martial art in the world. Parashurama was a master of shastravidya, or the art of weaponry, as taught to him by Shiva. As such, he developed northern kalaripayattu, orvadakkan kalari, with more emphasis on weapons than striking and grappling. Southern kalaripayattu was developed by Agastya, and focuses more on weaponless combat. Kalaripayattu is known as the 'mother of all martial arts'.

Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism, also practiced kalaripayattu. When he traveled to China to spread Buddhism, he brought the martial art with him, which in turn was adapted to become the basis of Shaolin Kung Fu.

Sanyasi and end time

Main article: End time

By the end of the Vedic period, Parashurama had grown weary of bloodshed and became a sanyasi, giving up his possessions to practice penance. The first book of the Mahabharata writes:

The son of Jamadagni, after twenty-one times making the Earth bereft of Kshatriyas, wended to that best of Mountains Mahendra and there began his ascetic penance.

—Mahabharata

He traveled to central India at the northern end of the Eastern Ghats and western Odisha, and ascended the Mahendra Mountains.. Before he left, Parashurama distributed the territories he conquered among a clan of Brahmins called the Bhumihar, who ruled for many centuries. Kingdoms included the Cheras, Pandyas, Dravida, Mushika, Karnata andKonkana.

Unlike other incarnations of Vishnu, Parashurama is a Chiranjivi, and is said to still be doing penance today in Mahendragiri. The Kalki Purana writes that he will reemerge at the end of Kali Yuga to be the martial and spiritual guru of Kalki, the tenth and final avatar of Vishnu. It is foretold that he will instruct Kalki to perform a difficult penance to Shiva, and receive the celestial weaponry needed to bring about end time.

Kalki, tenth and final avatar of Vishnu

Name

Parashu means 'axe' in Sanskrit; hence, Parashurama literally translates as 'Rama with axe'. He is also known as Bhṛgupati, Bhargava, and Bhargava Rāma. Regional variations include:

• Indonesian: Ramaparasu

• Javanese: Ramabargawa

• Khmer: Reamsor (from Rāmasūra) or Reameyso (from Rāmīṡvara)

• Thai: Ramasun (Thai: รามสูร)

• Malay: Pusparama

Parashurama temples

There are numerous temples and statues of Parashurama throughout the Indian subcontinent, some of which include:

• Parashurama temple, Attirala, a vernacular name for Hatyarala. Cuddapah district, Andhra Pradesh.

• Parshurama temple, Sohnag, Salempur,Deoria District, Uttar Pardesh

• Parashurama Kunda, Lohit District, Arunachal Pradesh, where Parashuram washed his sins after committing matricide

• Akhnoor, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir

• Fort Songadh, Gujarat

• Gudimallam, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh

• Harpur, Zamania, Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh

• Jalalabad, Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh

• Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan

• Khatti, near Phagwara, Punjab, India

• Maniyar, Ballia, Uttar Pradesh

• Mahurgarh, Maharashtra

• Parashurama Mandir, ChiplunMaharashtra

• Painguinim, Canacona, Goa

• Rajkot, Gujarat

• Shivpuri, Akkalkot, Khopoli, Maharashtra

• Shivsar Talao Pond Statue, Phalodi, Jodhpur, Rajasthan

• Sri Parasurama Swamy Temple, Thiruvallam, 6 km south of Thiruvananthapuram Kerala

• Tosh, Manikaran, Kullu, Himachal Pradesh

• Padubelle, Udupi, Karnataka, India

• Kojra, Sirohi, Rajasthan, India

• Parashurama Mandir, Mokama, Bihar, India

• Parshuram Kutiya, Nirmand, Kullu, Himachal Pradesh

Parashurama Kshetras

Seven Kshetras are popularly known as Parashurama Kshetras or Parashurama Srishti:

1. Udupi

2. kukke Subramanya

3.Kumbasi

4. Koteshwara

5. Shankaranarayana

6. Kollur

7. Gokarna

See also

Bhagavad Gita

Chiranjivi

End time

Haihayas

Heheya Kingdom

Kalachuri Kingdom

Parasuram Express

· Ramayana