There was a sage called Jamadagni. ‘Jamadagni’ means a man with one eye. This need not be taken in the literal sense. It actually means a person with one point of view. He doesn’t look here and there. He has a concentrated and focused vision. His son was Parashurama. Every day morning Jamadagni would perform his spiritual practices by using water which was brought by his wife. One day when his wife was fetching water she heard the sound of an aircraft flying above. She looked up. It was Kartaveerya Arjuna flying in his aircraft. Jamadagni’s wife saw him and found him to be very handsome and thought that there was no other king more handsome than Kartaveerya Arjuna. She did not get any evil feelings but she wondered how handsome he was. This is the nature of the mind. Great effort is required to control and maintain purity of the mind. One evil feeling will spoil the purity of the mind. That day when Jamadagni used the water to prepare a Lingam out of the mud, he noticed that the mud and water did not mix properly. He called his wife and said, “There is some fault in you. Without your fault, the water and mud will not remain like this”. He thought about it and asked her what happened when she went to fetch the water. She said, “On my way back, I heard some sound above me and when I looked up, I saw a very handsome king who was flying in his aircraft. I was attracted by his beauty and hence the purity of the mind was lost. That is why the water brought by me would not mix with the mud”. Jamadagni was angered by this and said, “I cannot have a wife who has such an unholy mind”. He called his son Parashurama and asked him to cut off the head of his mother. Parashurama immediately obeyed the command of his father and cut off his mother’s head. Jamadagni was very happy with his son because he immediately obeyed his father’s command. He told Parashurama to ask for a boon. Parashurama asked his father to bring his mother back to life. He obeyed the command of his father but immediately prayed for his mother’s life.
- “Kartaveerya Arjuna and Sri Dattatreya”, My Dear Students, Volume 03
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| Sri Parashuram mural in the Prasanthi Nilayam Bhajan Mandir |
When Parashurama’s father (Jamadagni) was beheaded by a Kshatriya king, his mother Renuka, cried in anguish: “Rama! Rama!” Parashurama, who was away from the Ashram, could ethereally hear the cries of His mother from afar and rushed home. He counted that His mother had called His name 21 times. On reaching the Ashram He saw His father’s head severed from the body. The horrible crime had been committed by Kartaveerya’s sons. Parashurama took a vow to wage war against the vile Kshatriya rulers twenty one times and end their rule all over the earth. Parashurama accomplished His mission by defeating the Kshatriya kings 21 times and came to his Ashram to pray to His ancestors for restoring His father’s life. The Sage Bharadwaja, to whose Gotra Jamadagni belonged, appeared before Parashurama and restored Jamadagni to life by placing the head and body together.
After this, Parashurama felt that the purpose of His advent had been achieved and as He had no desire to be a ruler, He made a gift of all the territories He had conquered to the Sage Kashyapa. He felt that having given away everything, it would not be right for him to remain on the land He had gifted. He decided to reclaim land from the sea and settle down on that territory for the rest of His life. It is this area that is known as Parashurama Kshetra – also known as Kerala. He performed penance on a mountain called Mahesha, which is situated in Kerala.
- “Sanctified by Three Avatars”, Sathya Sai Speaks, Volume 19, September 15, 1986, Prasanthi Nilayam
Source: Parashurama, Chapter 3, Sai Vani: Avatar on Avatar Purushas
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