Shloka 4
त्रि:सप्तकृत्व: पृथिवीं कृत्वा नि:क्षत्रियां पुरा । जामदग्न्यस्तपस्तेपे महेन्द्रे पर्वतोत्तमे,पूर्वकालमें जमदग्निनन्दन परशुरामने इक्कीस बार पृथ्वीको क्षत्रियरहित करके उत्तम पर्वत महेन्द्रपर तपस्या की थी। उस समय जब भृगुनन्दनने इस लोकको क्षत्रियशून्य कर दिया था, क्षत्रिय-नारियोंने पुत्रकी अभिलाषासे ब्राह्मणोंकी शरण ग्रहण की थी
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
triḥ-saptakṛtvaḥ pṛthivīṃ kṛtvā niḥkṣatriyāṃ purā |
jāmadagnyaḥ tapas tepe mahendre parvatottame ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “In ancient times, Jāmadagnya (Paraśurāma) made the earth bereft of kṣatriyas twenty-one times, and then performed austerities on Mahendra, the most excellent of mountains.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral tension central to the epic: unchecked vengeance can devastate social order (the earth ‘without kṣatriyas’), yet tapas represents a turn toward restraint and inner discipline. It invites reflection on how power—whether martial or ascetic—must be governed by dharma to avoid cyclical harm.
Vaiśampāyana recounts that Paraśurāma, the son of Jamadagni, repeatedly annihilated the kṣatriya class (twenty-one times) and afterward undertook austerities on the Mahendra mountain. This situates Paraśurāma’s legendary campaign and his subsequent ascetic phase within the Adi Parva’s genealogical and historical narration.