Shloka 513
Rāma–Jāmadagnya-janma-kāraṇa and Kṣatra-kṣaya
Paraśurāma’s origins and the depletion/restoration of kṣatriya lineages
निःक्षत्रियां प्रतिश्रुत्य महीं शस्त्रमगृह्नत । पिताके इस प्रकार मारे जानेसे परशुरामके क्रोधकी सीमा न रही। उन्होंने इस पृथ्वीको क्षत्रियोंसे सूनी कर देनेकी भीषण प्रतिज्ञा करके हथियार उठाया
niḥkṣatriyāṃ pratiśrutya mahīṃ śastram agṛhṇata |
Vāsudeva said: Having vowed to make the earth bereft of kṣatriyas, he took up his weapons. When his father was slain in this manner, Paraśurāma’s anger knew no bounds; making a dreadful vow to empty the world of the warrior class, he armed himself.
वासुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how righteous motives (filial loyalty, response to injustice) can be overwhelmed by uncontrolled anger, turning into disproportionate violence. It implicitly cautions that vows made in wrath can violate dharma by escalating harm beyond the original wrong.
Vāsudeva recounts that after his father was killed, Paraśurāma, consumed by grief and rage, made a terrifying vow to render the earth ‘without kṣatriyas’ and therefore took up weapons to carry out that resolve.