Shloka 9
Kurukṣetra-anudarśanam — Rāma-hradāḥ and the Question of Kṣatra Continuity (शान्ति पर्व, अध्याय ४८)
त्रि:सप्तकृत्वो वसुधां कृत्वा निः:क्षत्रियां प्रभु: । इहेदानीं ततो राम: कर्मणो विरराम ह
triḥ-saptakṛtvo vasudhāṁ kṛtvā niḥkṣatriyāṁ prabhuḥ | ihedānīṁ tato rāmaḥ karmaṇo virarāma ha ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Having made the earth bereft of kṣatriyas twenty-one times, that mighty lord Rāma (Paraśurāma) then—here and now—ceased from that deed, withdrawing from the course of violent retribution.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when one believes oneself justified in punishing wrongdoing, dharma ultimately requires restraint: the verse highlights a turning point where Paraśurāma stops the cycle of retaliatory violence, implying that righteous action has limits and must yield to cessation and moral self-control.
Vaiśampāyana reports that Paraśurāma, famed for repeatedly annihilating the kṣatriyas (counted as twenty-one times), has now come to this place and has ceased from that violent campaign, marking his withdrawal from that particular karma.