Editing Parashurama (section)

== Legend ==
{{Hinduism}}

According to [[Hindu history]], Parashurama was born to the sage [[Jamadagni]] and his [[Kshatriya]] wife, [[Renuka]]. In local tradition, it is believed they lived in a hut located at [[Janapav]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Parashurama|title = Parashurama &#124; Hindu mythology| date=6 August 2024 }}</ref> They had a celestial cow called [[Surabhi]], which gives them all that they desire (Surabhi is the daughter of cow ''[[Kamadhenu]]'').<ref name="Lochtefeld2002p500" /><ref>{{cite book|author= Khazan Ecosystems of Goa: Building on Indigenous Solutions to Cope with Global Environmental Change (Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research)|title = Khazan Ecosystems of Goa: Building on Indigenous Solutions to Cope with Global Environmental Change|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-r_EBAAAQBAJ&q=parashurama+was+saraswath+brahmin&pg=PA29|year=1995|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-9400772014|page=29}}</ref> A king named [[Kartavirya Arjuna]] (not to be confused with [[Arjuna]], the Pandava)<ref name="Leslie2014p64" />{{refn|group=note|The ''Mahabharata'' includes legends about both Arjuna, one is dharmic (moral) and other adharmic (immoral); in some versions, Arjuna Kartavirya has mixed moral-immoral characteristics consistent with the Hindu belief that there is varying degrees of good and evil in every person.<ref name="Leslie2014p64"/>}} learns about this cow of plenty and wants it. He asks Jamadagni to give it to him, but the sage refuses. While Parashurama is away from the hut, the king takes it by force.<ref name="Lochtefeld2002p500" /> When Jamadagni pleads his case and seeks for the return of the cow, the king strikes him with his fist, killing him. Parashurama learns about this crime, and is upset. With his axe in his hand, he challenges the king to battle. They fight, and Parashurama defeats and kills the king, according to the ''[[Padma Purana]]''.<ref name="Leslie2014p66"/><ref name=":1" />

{{Blockquote|text=The wicked-minded one lost his valour due to his own sin. The mighty son of Reṇukā, being angry, cut off his head, as mighty Indra did the peak of a big mountain, and he who was brave and angry, killed Sahasrabāhu and all the kings with his axe in the battle. Seeing Rāma, the very fearful one, all kings on the earth, struck by fear, ran away as elephants do on seeing a lion. The angry Rāma killed the kings even though they had fled due to the resentment against his father's murder, as the angry Garuḍa killed the serpents. The valorous Rāma made the entire [world] clear of the kṣatriyas, but protected [i.e. spared] only the very great family of Ikṣvāku, due to its being the family to which his maternal grandfather was related, and due to his mother's words.|title=[[Padma Purana]]|source=Chapter 241}}

The warrior class challenges him, and he slays every single member of the class, save for those belonging to the lineages of [[Manu (Hinduism)|Manu]] and [[Ikshvaku]]. The mighty son of Jamadagni, having rid the world of the Kshatriyas, then performs the [[ashvamedha]] sacrifice. He grants the earth with the seven islands to principal [[Rishi|rishis]] belonging to the Brahmin class. Having renounced the earth and his violent deeds, he retires to the hermitage of [[Nara-Narayana]] to engage in penance. The legend likely has roots in the ancient conflict between the Brahmin [[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]], with knowledge duties, and the Kshatriya varna, with warrior and enforcement roles.<ref name="JonesRyan2006p324" /><ref name="Lochtefeld2002p500" /><ref name="donaldson159">{{cite book|author= Thomas E Donaldson|editor= Umakant Premanand Shah|title=Studies in Jaina Art and Iconography and Allied Subjects in Honour of Dr. U. P. Shah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fETebHcHKogC |year=1995|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-316-8|pages=159–160}}</ref>

=== Epic Ramayana ===
In the ''Ramayana'', following Rama's wedding to [[Sita]] at [[Mithila (region)|Mithila]] and during their homeward journey to [[Ayodhya (Ramayana)|Ayodhya]], his party comes across a number of inauspicious signs. Amid an earthquake and a dust storm, Parashurama appears before the party. After accepting the libation offered to him, Parashurama challenges Rama to combat, on the condition that the prince show his strength to the sage by placing a bow within the string of the latter's bow, [[Sharanga (Hindu mythology)|Sharanga]], and discharging it. Ignoring [[Dasharatha|Dasharatha's]] plea to spare Rama this task, Parashurama relays the divine origin of the bow and the history of its ownership, appealing to Rama's skills as a warrior. Rama seizes the bow from Parashurama and strings it, an act that causes the latter to become bereft of his divine power. Humbled, Parashurama acknowledges that Rama is an incarnation of Vishnu and requests the prince to allow him to return to the mountain Mahendra so that he could practice yoga and accrue [[Punya (Hinduism)|merit]]. After circumambulating Rama in worship, Parashurama returns to his hermitage.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Valmiki |url=http://archive.org/details/TheRamayan |title=The Ramayana |date= |pages=139–144}}</ref>
[[File:Ramabhadracharya_Works_-_Painting_in_Sribhargavaraghaviyam_(2002).jpg|thumb|Painting in Sri Bhargavaraghaviyam]]

=== Epic Mahabharata ===<!--{{Copying within Wikipedia|Amba (Mahabharata)}}-->

==== Bhishma ====
In the ''Mahabharata'', Parashurama intercedes on the princess [[Amba (Mahabharata)|Amba]]'s behalf, promising to command his disciple [[Bhishma]] to do his duty and marry her after her abduction.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Uberoi |first=Meera |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Cn_zJhh-rIC&pg=PA25 |title=The Mahabharata |date=2005 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-303358-5 |pages=25 |language=en}}</ref> When Parashurama arrives with his retinue at [[Kurukshetra]], he sends a message to Bhishma to inform him of his arrival. Bhishma comes to see his [[guru]], offering him the traditional respects. Parashurama commands Bhishma to accept Amba as his wife. Bhishma refuses, restating that he had taken a vow of celibacy. An infuriated Parashurama threatens Bhishma with death. Bhishma tries to calm the sage, but in vain, and he finally agrees to battle his guru to safeguard his [[Kshatriya]] duty. [[Ganga in Hinduism|Ganga]] tries stopping the battle by beseeching her son as well as the great sage, but fails.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Kisari Mohan Ganguli |author-link=Kisari Mohan Ganguli |title=Section CLXXXI |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m05/m05181.htm |work=The Mahabharata, Book 5: Udyoga Parva |publisher=Sacred-texts.com}}</ref> The great battle lasts for 23 days, without any result. On the 24th day, when [[Bhishma]] chooses to use a deadly weapon, at the behest of the divine sage [[Narada]] and the [[Deva (Hinduism)|devas]], Parashurama ends the conflict and the battle is declared a draw.<ref name="Mani">{{cite encyclopaedia |year=1975 <!-- | location = Delhi --> |title=Amba |encyclopaedia=Puranic Encyclopaedia: a Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers |last=Mani |first=Vettam |author-link=Vettam Mani |pages=27–29 |isbn=978-0-8426-0822-0}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=Kisari Mohan Ganguli |author-link=Kisari Mohan Ganguli |title=Section CLXXXVIII |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m05/m05188.htm |work=The Mahabharata, Book 5: Udyoga Parva |publisher=Sacred-texts.com}}</ref> Parashurama narrates the events to Amba and urges her to seek Bhishma's protection. However, Amba refuses to listen to Parashurama's advice and angrily declares that she would achieve her objective by asceticism.<ref name="CLXXXIX">{{Cite web |author=Kisari Mohan Ganguli |author-link=Kisari Mohan Ganguli |title=Section CLXXXIX |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m05/m05189.htm |work=The Mahabharata, Book 5: Udyoga Parva |publisher=Sacred-texts.com}}</ref>

=== Parshuram Kshetra ===
[[File:Parshuramsaraswats.jpg|thumb|left|Parashurama, surrounded by settlers, commanding [[Varuna]], god of the waters to recede to make land known as '''Parashurama Kshetra''<nowiki/>' from Gokarna to Kanyakumari for the Brahmins]]
There are legends dealing with the origins of the western coast geographically and culturally. One such legend is the retrieval of the west coast from the sea, by Parashurama. It proclaims that Parashurama, an [[Dashavatara|incarnation]] of [[Mahavishnu]], threw his battle axe into the sea. As a result, the land of the western coast arose, and thus was reclaimed from the waters. The place from which he threw his axe (or shot an arrow) is on Salher fort (the second highest peak and the highest fort in Maharashtra) in the Baglan taluka of Nashik district of Maharashtra. There is a temple on the summit of this fort dedicated to Parshuram and there are footprints in the rock four times the size of normal humans. This fort on a lower plateau has a temple of goddess Renuka, Parshuram's mother and also a Yagya Kunda with pits for poles to erect a shamiyana on the banks of a big water tank.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}} 

According to the Sangam classic ''[[Purananuru]]'', the [[Chera dynasty|Chera]] king [[Senguttuvan|Senkuttuvan]] conquered the lands between [[Kanyakumari]] and the [[Himalayas]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=Kerala History and its Makers |last=Menon |first=A. Sreedhara |publisher=D C Books |year=1987 |isbn=978-8126421992 |page=24}}</ref> Lacking worthy enemies, he besieged the sea by throwing his spear into it.<ref name=":0" /><ref>''Ancient Indian History'' By Madhavan Arjunan Pillai, p. 204 {{ISBN?}}</ref> According to the 17th-century [[Malayalam]] work ''[[Keralolpathi]]'', the lands of [[Kerala]] were recovered from the sea by the axe-wielding warrior sage Parashurama, the sixth incarnation of [[Vishnu]] (hence, Kerala is also called ''Parashurama Kshetram'' 'The Land of Parashurama'<ref>S. C. Bhatt, Gopal K. Bhargava (2006) "Land and People of Indian States and Union Territories: Volume 14", p. 18</ref>). Parashurama threw his axe across the sea, and the water receded as far as it reached. According to legend, this new area of land extended from [[Gokarna, India|Gokarna]] to Kanyakumari.<ref>{{cite book |author=Aiya VN |title=The Travancore State Manual |publisher=Travancore Government Press |pages=210–12 |year=1906 |access-date=12 November 2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RdzaPW-kEvQC}}</ref> The land which rose from sea was filled with salt and unsuitable for habitation; so Parashurama invoked the snake king [[Vasuki (snake)|Vasuki]], who spat holy poison and converted the soil into fertile lush green land. Out of respect, Vasuki and all snakes were appointed as protectors and guardians of the land. [[P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar]] has theorised that [[Senguttuvan]] may have been inspired by the Parashurama legend, which was brought by early Aryan settlers.<ref>{{Cite book |title=History of the Tamils: From the Earliest Times to 600 A.D. |last=Srinivisa Iyengar |first=P. T. |publisher=Asian Educational Services |year=1929 |isbn=978-8120601451 |location=Madras |page=515}}</ref>

In present-day Goa (or Gomantak), which is a part of the Konkan, there is a temple in Canacona in South Goa district dedicated to Parashurama.<ref name="skanda">'' Shree Scanda Puran (Sayadri Khandha)'' – Ed. Dr. Jarson D. Kunha, Marathi version Ed. by Gajanan Shastri Gaytonde, published by Shree Katyani Publication, Mumbai</ref><ref>''Gomantak Prakruti ani Sanskruti'' Part 1, p. 206, B. D. Satoskar, Shubhada Publication</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Aiya VN |title=The Travancore State Manual |publisher=Travancore Government Press |pages=210–212 |year=1906 |access-date=2007-11-12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RdzaPW-kEvQC }}</ref>