Sixth Avatar of Lord Vishnu:Parshuram Avatar

 Out of 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu,sixth avatar is Lord Parshuram. Lord Parshurama is known for his agressiveness and expert warrior skills.Lord Prashuram is son of Rishi Jamadagni and Renuka.Lord Parashuram was born on the hill of Janapav, situated at a distance from Mhow near Indore, Madhya Pradesh.His birth time is considered to be the during period of Satyug and Treta Yug.

      Lord Parshuram was great devotee of Lord Shiva and even  parsha (axe) was recieved by Lord Parshuram as a boon from Lord Shiva.Lord Parshuram descended to remove the evil from earth.

AVATAR OF LORD VISHNU : LORD PARSHURAM

  

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     There are various stories which are related to Lord Parshurama . Even it is considered that Lord Parshurama is Immortal.Lord Parshuram was present during the time of Lord Ram(Seventh avatar of Vishnu),during Mahabharata he taught warfare skills to Guru Dronacharya( guru of Kauravs and Pandavas),Bhishma and Suryaputra Karana.And according to puranas,He will teach warfare skills to Lord Kalki( Tenth avatar of lord Vishnu).It is said that most of the villages of India were settled by him.

         Lord Parshurama has killed kshatriyas 21 times from the earth.There is an interesting story behind this.

STORY OF LORD PARSHURAM:

     Once there was King Sahastrarjuna of Haihaya dynasty of Kshatriya Samaj.  Sahastrarjuna's real name was Arjuna.  It is said that he had pleased Lord Dattatreya with his penance and received the blessings of 10,000 hands from him.  Since then, Arjuna's name was Sahastrarjuna.

     Sahastrarjuna had crossed all the boundaries of religion by being crushed in his pride. People were fed up with his atrocities.  Insulting Brahmins by misrepresenting Vedas, Puranas and religious texts, destroying the ashrams of sages, killing them for no reason, perpetrating atrocities on the subjects, even by getting drunk for his entertainment.

    Once Sahastrarjun along with his entire army reached the ashram of Rishi Jamadagni ( father of Lord Parshuram )to rest in the jungles.  Maharishi Jamadgri also welcomed Sahastrarjuna as a guest of his ashram.  Rishi Jamadagri had a miraculous cow named Kamadhenu with divine qualities obtained from Devraj Indra as gift for the betterment of peoples 

   Rishi Jamdagni, with the help of Kamdhenu cow( divine cow), made arrangements for food for the entire army of Sahastrarjuna in a few moments.  Seeing such amazing powers of Kamdhenu cow, Sahastrarjun's desire to get it arose in his mind.  He asked the Rishi Jamadagni for Kamdhenu, but he refused to give it.

    Sahastrarjuna got angry and destroyed the ashram of Rishi Jamadagni and started taking the cow with him, but then that divine Cow Kamdhenu left Sahastrarjuna's hands and went towards heaven. 

      After this, when Lord Parashurama reached his ashram, seeing the destruction of his ashram and hearing about the insult of his parents, he got angry and he pledged to destroy Sahastrarjuna's ego and kill him and his army at the same time.

    In his Anger,Lord Parashurama reached the city of Sahastrarjuna with his mighty parsha( axe)  given by Lord Shiva, where there was a fierce battle between Parashurama and Sahastrarjuna and his army. First Lord Parshuram killed all the army who came in his path and after that  Parshurama cutted the thousands of arms and torso of Sahastrarjuna with his mighty force.

             After the killing of Sahastrarjun, Parashurama went on a pilgrimage to atone for his father Rishi Jamadagni's orders.But then the sons of Sahastrarjuna, with the help of their associate Kshatriyas, beheaded sage Jamadagni when he was doing penance in ashram.

   

  Sahastrarjuna's sons burnt the ashram, killing all the sages of the ashram as well.  Then crying Mother Renuka called out to her son Parashurama in a lamenting voice.Hearing his mother voice Lord  Parshurama went to his mother very soon.

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      When Parashuram reached the ashram after hearing his mother's call, he saw the mother mourning and there he saw his father's severed head and 21 wounds on his body.

          Seeing this, Parashurama became very angry and took an oath that he would destroy the land not only of Haihaya dynasty but all Kshatriya clans 21 times and destroy the land of Kshatriyas.After that Lord Parshurama killed the sons of Shahastrarjuna and he also fulfilled his resolve and also saved the earth from tyranny of evil kings of at that time.

ANOTHER STORY:

In Treta Yuga, when Lord Shri Ram broke the bow of Lord Shiva, Pinaka.Then Parshuram went to Mithila and got very angry on Lord Rama for breaking the bow of Lord Shiva and describing himself as a great devotee of Lord Shiva, declared himself as an opponent of Kshatriya dynasty.Then there was a fierce dialogue between Lord Rama's brother Laxman and Lord Parashuram.Then Lord Rama pacified his anger and when Lord Parshuram came to know that Lord Ram is avatar of Lord Vishnu,then he was very happy to see him.

DISCIPLES OF LORD PARSHURAM:

    Lord Parshuram was a great teacher of warfare.He had trained many incredible yodhas like:

1. Bhishma ( son of Goddess Ganga and Shantanu,Grand uncle of Kauravas and pandavas ).

2. Dronacharya ( guru of Kauravas and Pandavas ).

3. Karan ( son of sun god and great archer ).

     

        ॐ जामदग्न्याय विद्महे महावीराय धीमहि, तन्नः परशुराम: प्रचोदयात्

MENTIONED IN:

Parshurama avatar of Lord Vishnu is mentioned in these Puranas:

1. Ramayana
2. Mahabharata
3. Bhagwat Purana
4. Kalki Purana

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3. YAMARAJ: GOD OF DEATH

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                                                            || OM NAMO NARAYANA ||