The myth :
He is one of the seven immortals and you see references to him in the Ramayana and he plays a crucial role in Mahabharatha (maybe in another post)
How Parasurama came to be the way he was ( a sage who has the fighting spirit and the skills of a kshatriya is interesting. )
Jamadagni was one of the famed Saptharishis (depending on which purana you refer to) and the father of Parasurama. Legend has it that Jamadagni's father fell in love with a princess from the Chandravamsam and her father asked for a thousand horses which are pure white with a single black ear as dowry. The sage manages to get it with the help of the god Varuna and takes his wife home. They are without progeny for a while and even the princess's kingdom lacks a heir. So the sage through his powers gets two potions. One for his wife to deliver a wise sage and another for his mom in law to deliver a brave Kshatriya. The untrusting mil changes the two potions and the wife is now pregnant with the Kshatriya. She does not want her son to be a warrior and wants him to be a pious sage like his father and begs her husband to do something about it. The sage divines his grandson to be the Kshatriya and his son to be the saint. Thus Jamadagni is born a saint and Parasurama is born a Kshatriya in a Brahmin family as the fifth son of Jamadagni and Renuka.
He gets the "Parasu" or bow from Shiva after his tapasya and his name stems from the same. His name like that of the next avatar is actually Rama.
Parasurama is famed for his mass genocide of the Kshatriyas. Jamadagni had a divine cow that bestowed plenty upon the sage and his family. A powerful and ruthless king vied for the cow and takes it away by force when Parasurama is out in the forest. The funny part of the story is that, he is fed by the cow when he is in the sage's ashram and he covets for his hosts wealth rather than being thankful. Parasurama is enraged on his return and he kills the king and gets the calf back. His father is angry as he feels that the way of a sage is forgiveness and not force. He orders his obedient son to go on a pilgrimage around the country. While Parasurama is away, the sons of the king raid the ashram and tie Jamadagni to a pole and shoot him to death like a deer. He is devastated and goes on a killing spree massacring Kshatriyas mean or nice.
In the Mahabharatha, he tries to fight Bhishma but gives up when his father's soul requests him to not do so (Why is another story). Then, he gives away his kingdom and wealth and starts meditating to find peace.
The philosophy
The legend of Jamadagni's father is interesting as it shows marriage across castes - a princess marries a sage. In a world where India is mocked at for its caste system, legends like these which highlight the intermarriage between castes speak about a system which was misused by the powerful just like today
The king coveting the cow which a subject of his has highlights how greedy and crazy some of the kings we had were. The sage losing the cow highlights the helplessness of the subjects. Parasurama to me is the common man who rebelled.
Jamadagni's advice to his angry son is also reassuring and comforting - that forgiveness outweighs revenge. However it proves futile, for there is a bigger universal truth - " Once you pick a weapon to destroy, it will in one way or the other destroy things which matter to you." Parasurama's victory against the king costs him his father.
The warrior priest is also interesting because he by himself rids the world of Kshatriyas - men in power who were abusing it. It is said that when the time for the final avatar comes, Parasurama is the one who will teach Kalki about the divine weapons.
He is one of the seven immortals and you see references to him in the Ramayana and he plays a crucial role in Mahabharatha (maybe in another post)
How Parasurama came to be the way he was ( a sage who has the fighting spirit and the skills of a kshatriya is interesting. )
Jamadagni was one of the famed Saptharishis (depending on which purana you refer to) and the father of Parasurama. Legend has it that Jamadagni's father fell in love with a princess from the Chandravamsam and her father asked for a thousand horses which are pure white with a single black ear as dowry. The sage manages to get it with the help of the god Varuna and takes his wife home. They are without progeny for a while and even the princess's kingdom lacks a heir. So the sage through his powers gets two potions. One for his wife to deliver a wise sage and another for his mom in law to deliver a brave Kshatriya. The untrusting mil changes the two potions and the wife is now pregnant with the Kshatriya. She does not want her son to be a warrior and wants him to be a pious sage like his father and begs her husband to do something about it. The sage divines his grandson to be the Kshatriya and his son to be the saint. Thus Jamadagni is born a saint and Parasurama is born a Kshatriya in a Brahmin family as the fifth son of Jamadagni and Renuka.
He gets the "Parasu" or bow from Shiva after his tapasya and his name stems from the same. His name like that of the next avatar is actually Rama.
Parasurama is famed for his mass genocide of the Kshatriyas. Jamadagni had a divine cow that bestowed plenty upon the sage and his family. A powerful and ruthless king vied for the cow and takes it away by force when Parasurama is out in the forest. The funny part of the story is that, he is fed by the cow when he is in the sage's ashram and he covets for his hosts wealth rather than being thankful. Parasurama is enraged on his return and he kills the king and gets the calf back. His father is angry as he feels that the way of a sage is forgiveness and not force. He orders his obedient son to go on a pilgrimage around the country. While Parasurama is away, the sons of the king raid the ashram and tie Jamadagni to a pole and shoot him to death like a deer. He is devastated and goes on a killing spree massacring Kshatriyas mean or nice.
In the Mahabharatha, he tries to fight Bhishma but gives up when his father's soul requests him to not do so (Why is another story). Then, he gives away his kingdom and wealth and starts meditating to find peace.
The philosophy
The legend of Jamadagni's father is interesting as it shows marriage across castes - a princess marries a sage. In a world where India is mocked at for its caste system, legends like these which highlight the intermarriage between castes speak about a system which was misused by the powerful just like today
The king coveting the cow which a subject of his has highlights how greedy and crazy some of the kings we had were. The sage losing the cow highlights the helplessness of the subjects. Parasurama to me is the common man who rebelled.
Jamadagni's advice to his angry son is also reassuring and comforting - that forgiveness outweighs revenge. However it proves futile, for there is a bigger universal truth - " Once you pick a weapon to destroy, it will in one way or the other destroy things which matter to you." Parasurama's victory against the king costs him his father.
The warrior priest is also interesting because he by himself rids the world of Kshatriyas - men in power who were abusing it. It is said that when the time for the final avatar comes, Parasurama is the one who will teach Kalki about the divine weapons.
Good very informative
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