Shloka 7
समन्तपञ्चक-आख्यानम् तथा अक्षौहिणी-प्रमाणनिर्णयः
Samantapañcaka Narrative and the Measure of an Akṣauhiṇī
अनया पितृभक्त्या च विक्रमेण तव प्रभो । वरं वृणीष्व भद्रं ते यमिच्छसि महाद्युते,तदनन्तर, ऋचीक आदि पितृगण परशुरामजीके पास आकर बोले--“महाभाग राम! सामर्थ्यशाली भृगुवंशभूषण परशुराम!!! तुम्हारी इस पितृभक्ति और पराक्रमसे हम बहुत ही प्रसन्न हैं। महाप्रतापी परशुराम! तुम्हारा कल्याण हो। तुम्हें जिस वरकी इच्छा हो हमसे माँग लो'
anayā pitṛbhaktyā ca vikrameṇa tava prabho | varaṁ vṛṇīṣva bhadraṁ te yam icchasi mahādyute ||
“Pleased by your devotion to your forefathers and by your valor, O lord, choose a boon. May auspiciousness attend you, O greatly radiant one—ask for whatever you desire.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links ethical merit to two virtues: pitṛbhakti (reverent duty toward one’s ancestors and lineage) and vikrama (courage expressed through disciplined action). When these are present, blessings and legitimate rewards (vara) follow—suggesting that power is to be grounded in reverence and responsibility, not mere aggression.
The forefathers/ancestral sages, pleased with Paraśurāma’s filial devotion and heroic prowess, address him respectfully and invite him to choose a boon—an honorific moment that frames his later actions within a lineage-based moral economy of merit and recompense.