Shloka 56
विश्वामित्रस्य पौत्रस्तु रैभ्यपुत्रो महातपा:
viśvāmitrasya pautras tu raibhyaputro mahātapāḥ | mahārāja viśvāmitrake pautra tathā raibhyake putra mahātejasvī parāvasune bhari sabhāyām ākṣepaṃ kurvan uvāca— “rāma! rājā yayāteḥ svargād bhraṃśamāne yāḥ pratardana-ādayaḥ sajjanapuruṣā yajñe samāgatāḥ, kiṃ te kṣatriyā na āsan? tava pratijñā mṛṣā. tvaṃ vṛthāiva janatāyāḥ sabhāyāṃ ḍīṅgaṃ hāṅkaroṣi— ‘mayā kṣatriyāṇām antaḥ kṛtaḥ’ iti. ahaṃ tu manye kṣatriyavīrabhayād eva tvaṃ parvataśaraṇaṃ gataḥ. idānīṃ pṛthivyāṃ sarvataḥ punaḥ śatāni kṣatriyāḥ saṃjātāḥ!”
Vāsudeva said: “O King! A great ascetic—Parāvasu, the grandson of Viśvāmitra and son of Raibhya—censured Rāma in the assembly, saying: ‘Rāma! When King Yayāti fell from heaven, were not Pratardana and the other noble men gathered at the sacrifice kṣatriyas? Your vow is false. You boast in vain before the people, saying, “I have ended the kṣatriyas.” I think you fled to the mountains out of fear of kṣatriya heroes. Even now, on every side of the earth, hundreds of kṣatriyas have arisen again!’”
वासुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage critiques empty boasting and insists that vows and public claims must align with truth and observable reality. It also implies that violence claimed as total ‘extermination’ is neither sustainable nor a reliable basis for moral authority; ethical standing depends on सत्य (truth) and restraint, not on self-advertised feats.
Vāsudeva recounts how Parāvasu, in a public assembly, rebukes Rāma (Paraśurāma). He challenges Rāma’s claim of having ended the Kṣatriyas by citing Kṣatriyas present at Yayāti’s sacrifice (such as Pratardana) and argues that Kṣatriyas have reappeared everywhere, suggesting Rāma’s retreat to the mountains was driven by fear rather than victory.