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2024-04-25, 11:31 AM |
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Chapter
15: Paras'urâma,
the
Lord's
Warrior
Incarnation
(1) The son of Vyâsadeva said: 'From
Urvas'î's womb six sons were born who were begotten by Purûravâ oh ruler of man: Âyu, S'rutâyu,
Satyâyu, Raya, Vijaya and Jaya. (2-3) S'rutâyu
had a son named Vasumân, Satyâyu also had one called
S'rutañjaya, from Raya there was a son called Eka and from Jaya
there was a son called Amita. Bhîma was the son of Vijaya after
whom Kâñcana was born as his son. From Hotraka,
Kâñcana's son, there was the son Jahnu who drank the water
of the Ganges in one sip. (4) Puru
was begotten by Jahnu [see 1.12: 15
& 3.8:
1] and from him next
Balâka and his son Ajaka appeared. Kus'a followed from whose
loins the four sons Kus'âmbu, Tanaya, Vasu and Kus'anâbha
were born who were succeeded by Gâdhi, the son of Kus'âmbu. (5-6) From
Gâdhi there was the daughter Satyavatî who by the brahmin
Ricîka was asked to be his wife, but not considering him fit king
Gâdhi said to that son of
Bhrigu: 'Please deliver me as a dowry for this daughter of the Kus'a
dynasty that we belong to, one thousand horses as brilliant as the
light of the moon with each one black ear.' (7) With that being said the sage understood what he had in mind. He went to the abode of Varuna from where
he brought and delivered the horses. Then he married the beautiful
daughter. (8) He as a
seer was by his wife and his
mother-in-law who each wanted a son, requested to cook a preparation
which he with mantras offered to them [to his wife with a brâhmana
mantra and to his mother-in-law with a kshatriya mantra]. Then
the muni went away for a bath. (9) Meanwhile,
Satyavatî
was by
her mother asked to give the oblation that was meant for her, because
she thought it was the better one of the two. She handed it over to her
while she herself ate her mother's oblation.
(10) Learning about this the sage said to
his
wife:
'You
did
something
very
wrong!
Now your son will be a
fierce, punitive personality while your brother will be a scholar in
spiritual science!'
(11) Satyavatî beseeched him that it would
not be so and thus the son of Bhrigu said: 'Then the son
of your son will be that way!' Thereafter Jamadagni was born.
(12-13) She [Satyavatî] later became the great
and sacred Kaus'ikî [a river] that purifies the entire world.
Jamadagni married Renukâ, the daughter of Renu. She with the seer
of Bhrigu gave birth to many sons of whom Vasumân was the eldest.
The renown Paras'urâma [also known as Râma] was the
youngest son. (14) He [Paras'urâma] who twenty-one
times acted as the annihilator of the Haihaya dynasty and thus freed
the earth from all her kshatriyas, is called
an [ams'a] incarnation of Vâsudeva. (15) The earth's
burden of the arrogant governing class that, covered by
passion and ignorance, lacked in respect for the brahminical rule, was
removed by him. He killed them despite of the fact that they had
committed no great
offense [see also 1.11: 34].'
(16) The honorable
king said: 'What was, of those degraded nobles out of control, the
offense committed unto the Supreme Lord because of which time and
again the dynasty was annihilated?
(17-19) The son
of Vyâsa said: 'The king of the
Haihayas, Kârtavîryârjuna, the best of the kshatriyas,
had developed a
thousand arms in
upholding the worship of Dattâtreya who is a
plenary portion of Nârâyana. He who was the fear of his
enemies could
not be defeated, was sharp-witted, most attractive, influential,
powerful, renown and physically very strong. Because of his yogic
control he had acquired qualities like the perfections of the animâ-siddhi
and such and he tirelessly traveled all over the world like a whirlwind. (20) When
he one day surrounded by beautiful women
enjoyed the water of the Revâ [the Narmadâ],
he, overly proud of being decorated with the garland of
victory, with his arms stopped the flow of the river. (21) The
conceited hero called Ten-head
[Râvana] could not bear that influence because the water that
moved upstream from his actions had inundated his camp. (22)
Râvana who insulted him [the king] in the presence of the women
was without much difficulty arrested by him, held in custody in [their
capital]
Mâhishmatî and then released again as if it concerned a
monkey.
(23) Once
during a hunt alone
in
the
forest
wandering
aimlessly,
he
[Kârtavîryârjuna] entered the âs'rama
of Jamadagni muni. (24) The sage on the basis of his austerity could, because of his cow of plenty [kâmadhenu], offer to that god of man together with his
soldiers, ministers and the rest of his retinue, everything that was needed. (25) When
the king saw what this wealth that exceeded his personal opulence all meant,
he could not appreciate it really. He and his Haihayas then developed
the desire to possess that cow of sacrifice. (26) In his conceit he encouraged his men
to take away the sage's cow of plenty and bring her together with her
calf
to Mâhishmatî while it was crying because of the
violence. (27) After
the king was gone
Paras'urâma, upon returning to the âs'rama [of his
father], heard about that
nefarious act and got as angry
as a snake that is trampled upon.
(28) Unable
to
tolerate
what
had
happened
he
took up a
ghastly chopper, a quiver, a bow and a shield and went after them like
a lion attacking an elephant. (29) As the king
entered
the
capital
he
saw the
best of the Bhrigus coming
after him in fury carrying a bow, arrows and a chopper as his weapons.
His skin was covered by a black deerskin, he had matted locks and
radiated like sunshine. (30) He
sent seventeen
akshauhinîs [*] with elephants, chariots, horses and
infantry, with swords,
arrows, lances, slings and weapons of fire, but Paras'urâma, the
Lord and Master, most fiercely killed them all by himself. (31) He as
the greatest expert in handling
the chopper, killed as fast as the wind and as speedy as the
mind the enemy troops from whom here and there the arms, legs
and shoulders fell to the ground together with the drivers of the
elephants and the horses that had been slain. (32) Seeing his soldiers fallen by the axe and the
arrows of Râma lying scattered with their shields,
flags, bows and dead bodies in
the mud and the blood on the field, Haihaya
[Kârtavîryârjuna] rushed over there in fury. (33) Kârtavîryârjuna
then
fixed
with
five
hundred
of
his
arms simultaneously as many arrows on as many
bows in order to kill Râma, but he as the best fighter of all the
ones armed, cut them all to
pieces with his arrows using
one bow only. (34) The
king
attacked
again
with
trees
and
rocks
that he had uprooted with his hands, but, as he was rushing
forwards on the battlefield, all his arms
were by Paras'urâma's razor-sharp axe with great force cut off
like
they
were the hoods of snakes. (35-36) After
his arms had been cut off, the
mountain peak that was his head was severed. As soon as their father
was killed his ten thousand
sons fled away in fear. Fetching the sacrificial cow and calf that had
suffered badly, the Killer
of All False Heroism returned to his father's hermitage and handed them
over to him. (37) Râma described to his father and
brothers everything that he had done. After hearing that Jamadagni spoke as
follows:
(38) 'Râma oh Râma, mighty hero, you
have committed a sin by unnecessarily killing
that god of man who embodies all the demigods. (39)
We are brahmins my dear one, people who because of their forgiveness
have
achieved a position of respect. It is by this quality that the god
who is the spiritual master of the universe [Lord Brahmâ] has
achieved his position as the supreme authority. (40) By forgiveness the splendor, happiness and success of the religious
practice shines as brilliant as
the sun. The Supreme Lord Hari, our
Controller, becomes quickly pleased with those who are forgiving. (41) To
kill a king who is famous as an
emperor is worse than killing a brahmin. Therefore wash away that
sin my best one, by respecting the holy places in the consciousness of
the
Infallible One.'
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