The episode in the Ramcharitmanas dealing with Sri Parshurama at first glance seems relatively small and unimportant in the context of the Ramcharitmanas as a whole. However, a careful analysis of this event
proves it to be very thought provoking and of great significance.
From the point of view of presentation, it can be said without any doubt, that the dramatic impact produced by the confrontation of Sri Rama and Sri Parshurama and their ensuing dialogue is without a parallel in the entire epic. When all the kings and princes who had gathered on the occasion of the bow sacrifice in order to contest for the hand of Mother Sita had tried their best and failed in their efforts to even pick up the bow, then the success of Sri Rama, who so easily picked up the bow and broke it in two, seemed to bring this entire episode to a climax. This being so, the episode ought to have been brought to a happy conclusion with the garlanding of Sri Rama by Mother Sita.
But this did not happen. The contestants who had failed to win the hand of Mother Si ta were not prepared to accept their defeat, and were ready to challenge Sri Rama as well as king Janaka in order to take Mother Sita by force. It seemed as if war was imminent and the happy ending to the episode was to be spoiled by bloodshed.
Just at this moment of tension, Sri Parshurama made his appearance on the scene. He was furious at the news of the breaking of the bow of Lord Shiva, who was his Guru, and angrily demanded from king Janaka the identi ty of the person who had dared to do this. He further threatened to destroy the entire kingdom of king Janaka if he failed to hand over the culprit
Ati ris bole bacan kathoraa, Kahu jad Janak dhanush kai toraa.
Begi dekhaau moodh na ta aajoo, Ultaoo mahi jah lahi tav raajoo.
" 'Tell me, 0 stupid Janaka, who has broken the bow?
Show him at once, or this very day I will overthrow the whole tract of land over which your dominion extends.'"
(Ramcharitmanas 1/269/2).
He viewed the breaking of the bow as an insult to his Guru and threatened to kill the miscreant. Sri Rama immediately bowed His head before Parshurama and in a respectful tone said that the breaker of the bow could be none other than his (Parshurama's) servant. But Parshurama was not satisfied with this humble submission of Sri Rama, saying that a servant will render service and not perform acts of enmity. He further reiterated that whosoever broke the bow will be regarded as an enemy and severely dealt with.
At this point, Lakshmana got into the fray and began to taunt Parshurama, thereby making him even more furious.
Finally, Parshurama got so furious that he was about to strike Lakshmana' s head off with his axe. Sri Rama interceded and asked Parshurama to forgive Lakshmana, and at the same time, admitted to breaking the bow himself and offered himself for any punishment that Parshurama would care to mete out to him.
Parshurama challenged Sri Rama to a duel, but Sri Rama respectfully declined saying that as a Kshatriya, he considered it sacrilegious to raise arms against a Brahman. Parshurama accused Sri Rama of cowardice and again demanded that Sri Rama do battle against him or else be slaughtered like a sacrificial animal. Sri Rama replied that, being born in a Kshatriya lineage of great heroes, he was not afraid of battle and was prepared to face even Yamraj, the god of Death, in mortal combat. He further said that he, together with all the members of his lineage, derived their natural fearlessness from their submission and humility towards Brahmans, whose blessings they ever sought.
Parshurama then perceived the extraordinary combination of fearlessness and sincere humility in Sri Rama and a
great doubt entered his mind about the true identity of this rare personality. In order to dispel his doubts, he asked Sri Rama to string the bow of Lord Vishnu which he had with him, and as he stretched out his hand offering the bow to Sri Rama, he was astonished to perceive that the bow left his hand of its own accord and went into the hands of Sri Rama, who then fitted an arrow and effortlessly drew it. Parshurama was now convinced that Sri Rama was none other than the almighty Lord in human semblance and he begged forgiveness for his harsh words. He then offered worship to the Lord and departed to do penance.
Suni mridu goodh bacan raghupati ke, Ughare patal parsudhar mati ke.
Raam ramaapati kar dhanu lehoo, Khaicahu mitai mor sandehoo.
Det caapu aapuhi cali gayaoo, Parsuraam man bismay bhayaoo.
Jaanaa raam prabhaau tab, pulak praphullit gaat.
Jori paani bole bacan, hriday na premu amaat.
Anucit bahut kaheu agyaataa, Chamahu chamaamandir dou bhraataa.
Kahi jay jay jay raghukulketoo, Bhrigupati gaye banahi tapa too.
"When he heard the soft yet profound words of Sri Rama, Parshurama's mind was disillusioned. '0 Rama, take this bow of Rama's lord and draw it, so that my doubts may be cleared.' As Parshurama offered his bow, i t
passed into Rama's hands of its own accord, and Parshurama felt amazed at this. He then recognized Sri Rama's might and his whole frame was thrilled with joy and his hair stood on end. Joining his palms together he addressed the following words to Sri Rama, his heart bursting with emotion: - ' ... In my ignorance, I have said much that was unseemly; therefore pardon me, both brothers, abodes of forgiveness that You are. Glory, glory, all glory to the Chief of Raghu' s race!' So saying, the lord of Bhrigus withdrew to the forest to practise penance.'" (Ramcharitmanas 1/283/3-4, 1/284, 1/284/3-4) .
A careful analysis of the foregoing episode raises some burning questions with regard to its significance. It is well known that both Parshurama and Sri Rama are incarnations of God, i.e. the sixth and seventh incarnations respectively. Whilst all the other incarnations followed each other after long intervals, these two are the only ones that were contemporaneous.
All incarnations have as their aim the destruction of evildoers and the protection of the pious. This is clearly stated in the Srimad Bhagavad Gita in the words of Lord Krishna in chapter 4 verses 7 and 8:
Yadaa yadaa hi dharmasya glaanirbhavati bhaarata,
Abhyutthaanamadharmasya tadaatmaanam srijaamyaham.
Pari-traanaaya saadhoonaam vinaashaaya ca dushkritaam, Dharmasansthaapanaarthaaya sambhavaami yuge yuge.
"'Whenever there is a decl.ine in dharma and a rise of adharma, then I embody mysel.f, 0 Bharata. For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked and for the establ.ishment of dharma, I am born from age to age.'"
When the gods, sages and Earth itself could no longer bear the wicked oppression of Ravana, the Lord promised to take human form and overcome this evil. The question arises as to why was it necessary for the advent of Sri Rama when Parshurama, also an incarnation, was already present at that time. The situation becomes even more puzzling when we observe that Parshurama enters into conflict with Sri Rama instead of Ravana, and we observe that Sri Rama has to subdue Parshurama first even before destroying Ravana.
In order to resolve this issue and get a better understanding of the matter, it will be necessary for us to look into some of the details of Parshurama' s earlier life. This information can be gleaned from a
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range of religious literature including the Srimad Bhaagvad and other Puranas.
Parshurama was the youngest son of the sage Jamadagni and Renuka Devi. One day, a powerful king called Kartavirya Sahasrarjuna, together with his hunting party, visited the ashrama of sage Jamadagni. The king was astounded to see the royal reception and feast offered to him by the sage. When he learnt that the sage was able to do this with the power of the heavenly cow he had with him, the king forcefully took the cow from the sage and returned with it to his palace.
Parshurama was not in the ashram at that time. When he learnt of what had happened, he angrily stormed into the palace of Sahasrarjuna, and after slaying him with his axe, returned with the divine cow to his father's ashram. Sage Jamadagni was not pleased when he received the news of the king's death at the hands of his son.
He severely criticised him for his rash actions. He said to Parshurama that, even though he was a brave hero, he ought not to have killed the king who might have on certain occasions behaved improperly, but was nevertheless the nurturer and protector of all the ci tizens of the state. A Brahman's glory lies in the
virtue of forgiveness through which he is able to win all hearts and gain reverence in the world. Sage Jamadagni informed Parshurama that having resorted to violence as a Brahman, he had committed a grave sin for which it will be necessary to do penance in order to erase the sin. This indicates how tolerant, forgiving and far-sighted the sage was. Even though Sahasrarjuna had treated him with such disrespect and humiliation, he nevertheless was ready to overlook the lapses on the part of the king,
reservation.
and forgive him without any
The sage believed in the principle of bringing about transformation in even the minds of the transgressors by treating them with love and compassion. Parshurama on the other hand, believed only in the principle of justice and the necessity of meting out punishment where it was deserved. In this way, this episode deals with the eternal question of justice and punishment on one hand and compassion and forgiveness on the other.
Even though Parshurama differed radically from his father with regard to this question, he nevertheless was prepared to give his father the benefit of the doubt and obediently went off to do penance at places
of pilgrimage. As far as he was concerned, this chapter of his life had come to an end.
But destiny did not concur and the situation was aggravated further by the sons of Sahasrarjuna who wanted to avenge their father's death. They refused to accept their father's death as the outcome of his own actions, and they resorted to further acts of violence in retaliation for Parshurama's actions. They attacked the sage Jamadagni in his ashram and, catching hold of him by his hair while he was in meditation, dragged him on the ashram grounds and mercilessly put him to death.
The screaming mother of Parshurama helplessly looked on.
When Parshurama returned from his penance and learnt of what had happened, his fury knew no bounds. He had always believed in the principle of justice and punishment, but out of reverence for his father he was prepared to accept that this was perhaps a failing in himself. That is why he repented of his previous actions and followed his father's commands to do penitence. But now, as far as he was concerned, it was not only his father but the entire ideal of compassion and forgiveness that was put to death. If the sons of
Sahasrarjuna had challenged him for his deed of killing their father, he would have gladly accepted the challenge and engaged in battle with them being the brave warrior that he was . He would not even have blamed them for wanting to seek revenge on account of their father's death.
But the irony of fate was that they exacted their revenge on that great sage who believed all his life in forgiveness and compassion. He now began to see forgiveness and compassion as elements of weakness in human beings, and was fully convinced that it was only through harsh justice and punishment that order can be maintained in the world. He became even more perplexed by the fact that the control of justice and punishment lay in the hands of the Kshatriya rulers, the very same people who were unjust and oppressive. He firmly resolved to revolutionise the entire system that had become an aberration in society.
Ordinarily, when an individual feels that the ruling class is oppressive and evil, he keeps silent on account of his incapacity to do anything about it. But this was not so in the case of Sri Parshurama who was blessed with limitless strength and courage. He began
to feel that all the rulers of the earth were collaborators in his father's murder, for not only had they failed to punish the sons of Sahasrarjuna, but they had not even raised a voice of protest against their deed. As far as he was concerned, this was not a conflict between two families but between two castes.
The fact is that the ruling class of that time was incensed by the death of king Sahasrarjuna at the hands of a Brahman lad, and they saw it as a challenge to their own authority that a Brahman boy could have the audacity to kill a great king. When the sons of Sahasrarjuna had killed sage Jamadagni, all the kings felt that justice had been served. That is why Parshurama felt that all the kings of the earth were culpable for the murder of his father and he resolved to punish them all. He did this by exterminating all the Kshatriya kings of the earth, not once, but 21 times.
This clearly shows that Parshurama was an extremist and a person of anger and violence. But he also had some very good qualities. He never acted out of selfishness and personal desires but only in the course of what he thought was his duty. He never married and observed strict celibacy all his life. After killing the kings
he did not appropriate their kingdoms for himself but always gifted them to the Brahmans. He led a well- disciplined life of self-sacrifice and service, but his extreme views made him unbalanced in his approach to life.
None of the other sages agreed with his opinions and he remained alone in his cause. That is why, in spite of his best efforts, the Kshatriya race was not totally obli terated from the earth, for the other sages were successful to some extent in protecting those kings who were their protegees. Examples are sage Vashishta who protected the Raghu clan and sage Sadananda who protected the Janaka clan. He could clearly see that through this protection, the Kshatriya kings had again risen in power, but he satisfied himself in the knowledge that they did not have the courage to raise their heads before him. He was widely respected on account of his noble qualities, but his mercilessness made him the object of terror amongst men.
He gradually became aloof from the events of the world, so much so that he did not even make an attempt to protect the sages from the atrocities of Ravana. He did not see Ravana as a wicked king, but rather as a
Brahman and a devotee of Lord Shiva, his own Guru. He therefore felt some kinship with Ravana and overlooked his atrocious deeds. Ravana's attacks on the kings during his world conquest must have appealed to him as proper action.
When Sri Rama broke the bow of Lord Shiva, Parshurama saw this as an act of impertinence by some Kshatriya prince. It now becomes clear that whereas Parshurama initially came on earth to resolve the problem of cruel and arrogant kings, he later became a problem himself on earth because of his unbalanced views. It is for this reason that Parshurama is referred to in the scriptures as an Aavesh Avataar, meaning an Avataar only for a specific period of time. That is why, in spite of his presence on earth, it became necessary for another Avataar to manifest on earth in the form of Sri Rama.
The paradox of Parshurama was that the Avataar of Sri Ram took place in a Kshatriya family. It was as if the Lord was rejecting Parshurama's philosophy of life vis a vis the principal of justice and punishment. To link any attribute, whether it be a virtue or a vice to any particular group of people is an indication of
immaturity and narrow sightedness. This one sided view of Parshurama not only rendered him incapable of resol ving the problems of the world, but he ended up actually compounding them.
Sri Rama, however, combines in himself the perfect synthesis of justice and compassion as well as punishment and forgiveness. When this truth finally dawned on the mind of Parshurama, he totally accepted the supremacy of Sri Rama, and in submitting to the Lord, he restored within himself that balance which is necessary for a healthy spiritual life.
The characterisation of Parshurama serves to drive home the message that is much needed in mankind. If we think deeply into the matter and look carefully at our own selves, I believe that we will all find a little bit of Parshurama in our selves. We unwittingly adopt views of partiality and prejudice when we identify ourselves as a particular group whether it be based on nationality, race, religion, language, class or caste. These views blind us to the extent that we are unable to make any real progress in spiritual life. The Ramcharitmanas, however, reaffirms our faith in the glory of Divine Grace and its power to redeem us in such circumstances
and enables us to render true service to society and to God.
One approach to the advent of Parshurama on the Dhanush Yajna scene, in addition to demonstrating the superiority of Sri Rama's humble grace as opposed to Parshurama's terror, was to reinforce the validity of Sri Rama' s right to Si ta. When the bow broke with a sound piercing the heavens,
Janaka regarding the culprit.
Parshurama approached Janaka was mortally terrified of the outcome of Parshurama's intervention:
the end of the prospects of Sita's marriage, death of Rama, Lakshmana and all the contenders to the hand of Sita in short the end of life as they knew it.
Even more terror-stricken were the princes who came from far and wide; and who were planning to reverse the resul ts of the contest - meaning that Sri Rama could not marry Sita. They knew of Parshurama's anti- Kshatriya vow; even rejoiced that Parshurama might kill Rama, thus opening the way for them.
Whilst everybody watched in stunned silence, Sri Rama won Parshurama over with His graciousness, and Parshurama acknowledged Him as the Lord.