Deity

Parashurama

परशुरामParaśurāma

Also called Parshuram

verses
1,510
books
23
chapters
360
Avatar of
Vishnu
Teacher of
Karna
Slew
Kartavirya Arjuna
Child of
Jamadagni

What the texts say

In the Agni Purana, Vishnu descended as Parashurama, born to the sage Jamadagni and Renuka, a protector of the gods and Brahmins and fully skilled in weapons. Agni Purana 1.4.13 The Bhagavata Purana tells that Parashurama returned to the hermitage and was angered to hear that Kartavirya Arjuna, a king whose line he would end, had left with the kamadhenu. Bhagavatam 9.15.27, 9.15.14 The same Purana adds that Parashurama killed all the kshatriyas, the warrior class, on earth twenty-one times. Bhagavatam 9.15.14 In the Mahabharata, Shiva granted him a sharp axe, the means by which the universal monarch Kartavirya Arjuna was brought down in a major engagement. Mahabharata 13.14.137 In the same epic, after giving the land to the sage Kashyapa, he dwells on a mountain that the epic calls the foremost of mountains. Mahabharata 3.117.14, 1.58.4

Where to read

Every verse that names Parashurama, book by book.

  1. Mahabharata

    579 verses · 115 chapters

    All 579 verses in the Mahabharata

    Also in the Gita Press edition: 702 verses

    • 5.180.13

      Then I went up to Rāma, intending to honor that foremost of twice-borns; having saluted him according to rule, I spoke an appropriate statement.

    • 12.3.9

      Karna, by steadiness, suppressed that unbearable pain; without trembling and without outward agitation, he continued to support Bhārgava (Paraśurāma).

    • 5.178.12

      “Then Rāma (Paraśurāma), his eyes unsettled with anger, said to me: ‘If you will not carry out this statement of mine, O foremost of the Kurus…’”

  2. Brahmanda Purana

    311 verses · 38 chapters

    All 311 verses in the Brahmanda Purana
    • 2.37.1

      Vasiṣṭha said—Paraśurāma, beholding that great and wondrous marvel, recounted the entire account of the pair of deer just as he had heard it.

    • 2.31.2

      Vasiṣṭha said: “After Bhṛgu, the noble one devoted to the Pitṛs, had departed, Rāma spoke in fierce anger, again and again releasing heavy breaths.”

    • 2.44.3

      Then, O best of kings, Rāma reached his father’s āśrama—filled with tranquil beings and resounding with the chant of the Vedas.

  3. Skanda Purana

    203 verses · 50 chapters

    All 203 verses in the Skanda Purana
    • 5.2.29.2

      In the Tretā Yuga of old, O Goddess, there was Rāma, the foremost among weapon-bearers—valiant, endowed with every virtue, and devoted to his father.

    • 6.1.94.1

      Sūta said: Likewise, in that sacred region there is another exceedingly splendid ‘Iron Staff’ (Lohayaṣṭi), established by Paraśurāma after he had broken his own axe.

    • 5.3.218.8

      “There, with Reṇukā at his side, that illustrious sage—protector who grants fearlessness to all beings—had a son: Rāma, the Lord himself, none other than Nārāyaṇa in person.”

  4. Bhagavatam

    86 verses · 27 chapters

    All 86 verses in the Bhagavatam
    • 9.15.12

      Satyavatī later became the sacred river Kauśikī to purify the entire world, and her son, Jamadagni, married Reṇukā, the daughter of Reṇu. By the semen of Jamadagni, many sons, headed by Vasumān, were born from the womb of Reṇukā. The…

    • 9.16.1

      Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: My dear Mahārāja Parīkṣit, son of the Kuru dynasty, when Lord Paraśurāma was given this order by his father, he immediately agreed, saying, “Let it be so.” For one complete year he traveled to holy places. Then he…

    • 10.84.2

      As the women thus talked among themselves and the men among themselves, a number of great sages arrived there, all of them eager to see Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Balarāma. They included Dvaipāyana, Nārada, Cyavana, Devala and Asita, Viśvāmitra…

Also named in

Key chapters

The chapters where Parashurama matters most.

  1. Bhishma’s account of the encounter with Rāma Jāmadagnya

    Mahabharata 5.180 · 36 verses

    Ascetic-warrior whose spiritual cosmology becomes martial…

  2. Śānti-parva Adhyāya 3: Karṇa’s training under Rāma Jāmadagnya and the Bhārgava restriction on the Brahmāstra

    Mahabharata 12.3 · 30 verses

    Bhārgava guru whose favor grants supreme weapon-knowledge and…

  3. Amba-prasaṅga and Kurukṣetra Dvandva Declaration

    Mahabharata 5.178 · 29 verses

    Guru-figure and enforcer of social restitution

  4. Bhishma and Rama: Restraint and Withdrawal in the Engagement

    Mahabharata 5.186 · 28 verses

    गुरु-योद्धा जिनका क्रोध धर्म-तर्क से टकराता है

  5. Ambā Seeks Refuge with Rāma Jāmadagnya

    Mahabharata 5.176 · 25 verses

    Supra-royal adjudicator combining ascetic legitimacy with…

  6. Rāmeśvara-Jāṭeśvara Liṅga: Paraśurāma’s Brahmahatyā-Śānti in Mahākālavana (रामेश्वर-जटेश्वरमाहात्म्य)

    Skanda Purana 5.2.29 · 28 verses

  7. Amba-Rama-Bhishma Dialogue on Vow and Refuge

    Mahabharata 5.177 · 22 verses

    Dharma-arbiter-warrior constrained by self-binding rules

  8. Bhishma’s Account of Parashurama’s Challenge and the March to Kurukshetra

    Mahabharata 5.179 · 18 verses

    Challenger and moral provocateur

  9. The Glory of Paraśurāma’s Iron Staff

    Skanda Purana 6.1.94 · 19 verses

  10. Paraśurāma, Kārtavīryārjuna, and the Kāmadhenu Offense (with Lunar-line Genealogy to Gādhi and Jamadagni)

    Bhagavatam 9.15 · 17 verses

    Vāsudeva-avatāra empowered to curb kṣatriya hubris

Also known to Wikipedia · Wikidata Q825682