Parasurama and the Battle with Kshatriyas – Stories from Aranyaka Parva

Rishi Lomasa and the Pandavas reached the sacred site of Parasurama’s ashram. The Bhrigus, the Angirases, the Vasishthas, and the Kashyapas lived here. They met Akritavarna, an ardent disciple of Parasurama, and inquired when they would meet the great man. 

Akritavarna said Parasurama visited on the fourteenth and the eighth lunar days. Luckily, they had to wait only for a day. As they settled at the ashram, Yudhistira wanted to know how Parasurama vanquished the Kshatriyas and why he killed so many of them. 

Akritavarna narrated the story in detail. 

Once upon a time, there lived a great king named Gadhi, the ruler of Kanyakubja. He went to live in a forest where a beautiful daughter was born to him. Years later, when she was old enough, Bhargava Richika approached the king and asked to marry his daughter. The king said there was a custom in his lineage – the groom had to pay a bride price of a thousand white and swift horses. However, the horses would have a single black ear. The king said that the rishi could not be asked to give these but his daughter should marry a man like him. The rishi replied he would pay the bride price. 

Richika went to Varuna and asked for a thousand white horses with one black ear each. Varuna did so and the place from where he got them became famous as a tirtha for the horses. As promised, King Gadhi got his daughter, Satyavati, married to Richika. After the wedding, Brighu and his wife went to visit his son and daughter-in-law. They were welcomed with respect and treated with care. Happy, Bhrigu offered a boon to his daughter-in-law. The beautiful woman requested a son for her mother and herself. The rishi agreed. He told her that she and her mother should bathe in a river and observe the ritual to conceive a son. Then, they must embrace different trees – asvattha tree for her mother and udumbara for his daughter-in-law. 

However, when Satyavati and her mother embraced the trees, they got confused and mixed up the instructions. Bhrigu realized what happened and informed his daughter-in-law that she would have a Brahmin son who would live like a Kshatriya and her mother would have a Kshatriya son who would lead the life of a Brahmin. 

Satyavati requested help from her father-in-law and said she didn’t want a son like that but wanted to make her grandson that way. Bhrigu agreed and said that would be so. 

Soon, Jamadagni was born to Satyavati. He surpassed many great rishis with his immense knowledge. He married Renuka, the daughter of King Prasenjit. They had five sons, with Parasurama as the youngest. Parasurama despite being the youngest was superior to others and was the one who ended up as the grandson with a Kshatriya life. 

One day, Renuka went to bathe in the river and saw the handsome King Chitraratha of Marttikavata and felt a sudden desire for him. However, she quickly returned to the ashram and was afraid that her husband might know of it. As guessed, Jamadagni knew of her slip from constancy and was angry at her. When his sons returned to the ashram, he ordered them to kill their mother. Rumanvat, Sushena, Vasu, and Vishvavasu – all the four older sons refused to do so. The rishi cursed them, which made his sons mad. 

Parasurama arrived a while later. When his father gave him the same order, he grabbed an axe and beheaded her. Jamadagni told his son that he performed a tough task and was pleased with him. He offered a boon. Parasurama asked for his mother to be revived for the memory of this slaying to be wiped out from his mind. He also asked that he shouldn’t be affected by the sin of killing his mother and that his brothers should return to their natural state of mind. He even asked that he should be untouched in a battle, and have no rivals, as well as live a long life. Jamadagni, now that his anger was appeased, gave his son all the boons he asked for. 

Years later, one day, the five sons had gone out as always. Jamadagni was at the ashram, immersed in tapasya. King Kartivirya arrived and was respectfully greeted by Renuka. However, he was high from success in a battle and instead of accepting the homage, he destroyed their ashram. He carried the sacrificial calf that kept crying. The cow was also crying for its baby. 

When Parasurama returned, Jamadagni told him what happened. Furious, Parasurama rushed at Kartavirya and chopped off his thousand arms. He killed the king and reunited the calf with its mother. 

The news reached Kartavirya’s sons who attacked the ashram when Parasurama wasn’t around. They killed Jamadagni who called out for his son to save him. By the time Parasurama returned with firewood, it was too late. His father was dead, and those responsible had left. He cried at the sight and blamed himself for his father’s death. Parasurama completed the funeral rites of his father and vowed to kill all the Kshatriyas. Fuelled by anger and grief, Parasurama killed all of Kartavirya’s sons. However, he didn’t stop this time. He continued to hunt and kill the Kshatriyas. Anyone who wielded arms was killed. He did this twenty-one times. This created five lakes of blood in Samantapanchaka. Here, Parasurama offered his ablutions to his ancestors. 

Then, his grandfather, Richika appeared before Parasurama and asked him to stop. Parasurama agreed. He conducted a grand sacrifice, constructed a golden altar, and gifted it to Rishi Kashyapa. With his permission, the other Brahmins divided it into equal parts. That’s how it came to be known as Khandavayanas. Parasurama relocated to live on Mount Mahendra (where the Pandavas were, at his ashram, listening to this story).