Lord Parshuram's life story inspirations

Parshuram the wielder of the mighty Parshu, the weapon of Lord Shiva himself. He is the only disciple of lord shiva trained in every warfare form. Lord Shiva was so impressed by his disciple that he blessed him with his Parshu.

Parshuram is the son of the sage Jamadagni and Kshatriya princess Renuka, he is the sixth incarnation of lord Vishnu, It is said he is one of the Chiranjeevi and will reappear in Kalyuga as the the teacher of Kalki avatar(the last avatar of lord Vishnu).

Various references across different mythological texts describe his stories. He is a mighty warrior, well-versed in all the Vedas, and the guru of Bhisma, Dronacharya, Karna, and Rukmi. 

He is infamous for his anger, but his anger was an important driving force to vanquish evils, he wiped out the Kshatriyas due to the torment they inflicted on the other clans. He was furious when the Shiva Dhanush was broken but on hearing the wise words of Lord Rama, quick to realize that his knowledge had made him arrogant. He happily sacrificed the sacred realms he was blessed with for his severe penance. He cursed Karna because he felt betrayed, he had vowed not to teach Kshatriyas, and only a Kshatriya could have borne the extreme pain Karna did. Later he regretted it and blessed Karna with his own divine chariot, bow, and Immortal fame as a warrior. These stories clearly point out that whenever he used his anger in the path of righteousness and dharma, the result was for society's greater good and betterment. He repented his actions only when anger dominated his mind and failed to see the greater purpose.

If we look at the life of Lord Parshuram it is an extremely tough one, born into an ordinary Brahmin family, yet his hunger for knowledge was insatiable. He was forced to behead his mother at his father’s command, and even though she was later restored to life by his father’s boon, the pain, and trauma he would have borne in those moments are unfathomable. It is said a single drop of his mother’s blood stained his Parshu, he washed it in countless rivers until it was finally cleaned in the river  Tunga, as a homage to the holy river he made a shiv linga, known as Rameshwara temple. But this is also metaphorical how that single drop of blood could traumatize such a valiant warrior, this clearly shows his pain and memory of the dreadful event. The misdeeds of Kshatriyas forced him to annihilate them except few clans like Ishkvaku and Manu, but he never kept the land for himself and instead gifted it to the Brahmins. 

His story clearly shows that his determination, hard work, and sheer grit made him overcome situations and enemies that even Devas would have struggled with. He is selfless, driven by the right motives and always working for the greater good. He is an inspiration to not be restricted by the limitation of resources or hardships we encounter in life but instead to face and overcome them with the wrath of lord Parshuram.

Happy Parshuram Jayanti!