There was a sage named Jamadagni. He and his wife Reṇukā had many sons. One of these sons was Paraśurāma who is famous for annihilating many kṣatriya kings 21 times. What impelled him to do this? And why 21 times? He did so to take revenge of the murder of his father.
Kārtavīrya Arjuna was a great king in the Haihaya dynasty. He once visited the sage Jamadagni while wandering in the forest for hunting. Jamadagni received the king along with his big entourage. The king was surprised that the sage, although living in the forest in a simple āśrama, was able to do such a wonderful reception. He came to know that this was because of a special cow named Kāmadhenu who was owned by the sage. He desired the cow and asked his soldiers to carry her to his capital without even asking the sage. The soldiers carried the cow who was protesting and crying. The sage felt helpless. Although capable of cursing, he remained tolerant.
At that time, Paraśurāma was not present in the ashrama. After some time, he returned to the ashrama and was furious to learn that the king had carried their cow forcibly. He was like a venomous cobra kicked on his head. Carrying his axe, sword, bow, and arrow, he ran to chase the king. He caught up with the king’s army before they entered the capital. Paraśurāma challenged the army. There was a fierce battle and Paraśurāma slaughtered each soldier just as a chef chops cucumbers. Seeing his army brutally vanquished, Kārtavīrya himself came to fight with Paraśurāma. Kārtavīrya was very valiant. His valor was demonstrated by the fact that he had captured Rāvaṇa like a monkey and enslaved him. Brahmā had to come to the rescue of the latter. But Kārtavīrya Arjuna was no match for the enraged Paraśurāma. Paraśurāma chopped off Kārtavīrya’s 1,000 arms one by one and then cut his head off. He returned to the āśrama with the cow. When Jamadagni heard about the killing of the king, he was not very happy. He told Paraśurāma that as a brāhmaṇa he should be tolerant. Killing a king is very sinful. As an atonement for the sin, he asked Paraśurāma to make a pilgrimage to different holy places.
When Paraśurāma killed Kārtavīrya, his sons ran away to protect their lives. Subjugated by the prowess of Paraśurāma, they didn’t confront him. They, however, were not peaceful. Their hearts were burning with the fire of revenge. Taking revenge is a common reaction of the human mind. Forgiving is rare.
As an aside, at present, a lot of research has been done on revenge and forgiveness. The mainstream thinking is that a human being and his brain have evolved over time. Researchers believe in the theory of natural selection and in the survival of the fittest. How can the nature to forgive and the will to survive coexist? Taking revenge also doesn’t seem right because you are creating a threat to your own life. Researchers explain that taking revenge sends a message: “Don’t mess with me.” Therefore, it helps in survival.
Kārtavīrya Arjuna’s sons couldn’t forget their father’s death. It happened in front of their own eyes. Their father was very prestigious and powerful. They just couldn’t forget his killing. Being kṣatriyas, they also took it as a personal disgrace if they did not take revenge for their father’s death. There are so many stories in India of kṣatriyas killing each other just for the sake of honor. “Honor killing” is a very common thing among kṣatriya even to this day. But Kārtavīrya Arjuna’s sons didn’t dare to attack Paraśurāma having witnessed the latter’s acumen in battle. This is the advantage of taking revenge. It scares the enemy.
They, however, were not peaceful and had this burning sensation in their hearts. They were always looking for an opportunity to take revenge. They knew that they could not beat Paraśurāma in combat. Therefore, Kārtavīrya’s sons were planning to kill Parasurama’s brothers and father. Once while Paraśurāma and his brothers went deep into the forest, Kārtavīrya’s sons came and cut off Jamadagni’s head while he was meditating.
When they attacked Jamadagni, his wife Reṇukā was there. She begged them in a very pitiable mood. However, these princes were very harsh and cruel. They cut off the sage’s head and took it away with them. They must have taken pleasure in performing the heinous crime. They weren’t worth being called kṣatriyas because they acted in such a dastardly manner.
Reṇukā was full of grief. She was beating her chest out of grief, crying, and loudly calling her son Paraśurāma. He heard his mother’s wailing and came running. He was shocked to see his father’s body full of blood with no head. He loved his father very much so you can imagine his anger and grief. He was sad, angry, intolerant, and full of pain and grief. After crying for some time, he planned to retrieve his father’s head to perform the cremation ceremony. Therefore, he took his axe and resolved to remove the kṣatriyas from the face of the earth. Sometimes, we see that one person’s karma influences other people. There is an individual karma and a collective karma. The whole kingdom sometimes suffers from the ruler’s mistake. When we live together, we have a common identity, we can get some benefits and we can also get some losses. The other kṣatriyas had not done anything to Paraśurāma but they all had to pay the price. It also happens in families. A member does something wrong and the whole family has to suffer. Paraśurāma went to the city of Mahiṣmati, the capital of Kārtavīrya Arjuna’s kingdom.
He slaughtered all the sons of Kārtavīrya Arjuna and made a pile of their heads so that everybody could see. That probably gave him satisfaction because when you have to take revenge and you defeat the enemy, it gives a sense of satisfaction. When Bhīma killed Duḥśāsana, he was jumping out of happiness and thumping his chest out of exhilaration. He had so much anger for all this time because of Duḥśāsana’s mean attempt to disrobe Draupadi in the assembly of the Kauravas.
He had taken a vow to smear Draupadi’s hair with Duḥśāsana’s blood to take his revenge. That is what he did. Anger and revenge go together. When your pride is hurt, you feel so much pain that you cannot rest unless you take revenge. That is what Paraśurāma also did. He made a mountain of the heads and from their blood he made a river terrifying those who are against the brāhmaṇas. He continued to kill the kṣatriyas. He would herd them and bring them to Kurukṣetra which became a slaughterhouse for the kṣatriyas. He would kill them there and collect their blood in ponds. He made five ponds of blood called Samanta-pañcaka. Because of his father’s murder, he considered the whole clan of kṣatriyas as very inauspicious and thus unworthy of living on earth.
Why did Paraśurāma kill the kṣatriyas 21 times? What is the significance of the number 21? This is because while Reṇukā was grieving, she beat her chest 21 times. Therefore, Paraśurāma killed the kṣatriyas 21 times, once for each thumping of the chest by his mother. This is stated in Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa:
duḥkha-śoka-parītā hi reṇukā tvarudan muhuḥ
trihsapta-kṛtvo hastabhyām udaraṁ samatādayat
“Reṇukā, being overwhelmed by pain and grief, cried again and again. She beat her chest [udaram here actually means chest] 21 times with her hands.” (3.30.28):
And :
uvācāpanayan duḥkhād bhartṛśoka-parāyaṇām
triḥsaptakṛtvo yad idaṁ vakṣaḥ samāhatam
tāvatsañkhyam ahaṁ tasmāt kṣatra-jātam aśeṣataḥ
haniṣye bhuvi sarvatra satyam etad bravīmi te
“While relieving her, who was plunged in grief due to the murder of her husband, from the misery, Paraśurāma said, ‘Because you have beaten your chest 21 times, I will kill all the kṣatriyas that many times all over the planet earth. Know this to be true.’” (3.30.30,31)
This is the most terrible revenge in the history.
The moral of the story is that for a spiritualist taking revenge is not advisable because it will implicate one’s life without any benefit. Therefore, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised us to be humble and tolerant.
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