Shloka 63
Rāma–Jāmadagnya-janma-kāraṇa and Kṣatra-kṣaya
Paraśurāma’s origins and the depletion/restoration of kṣatriya lineages
अरक्षेश्व सुतान् कांक्ष्चित् तदा क्षत्रिययोषित: । नरेश्वर! उन्होंने पुन: उन सबके छोटे-छोटे बच्चों-तकको शीघ्र ही मार डाला। जो बच्चे गर्भमें रह गये थे
arākṣeṣu sutān kāṁścit tadā kṣatriyayoṣitaḥ | nareśvara, punar api teṣāṁ sarveṣāṁ kṣudrakān bālān api śīghram eva jaghnuḥ | ye tu garbheṣu avaśiṣṭāḥ, tair eva punar iyaṁ sarvā pṛthivī vyāptābhavat | paraśurāmaḥ pratyekaṁ garbhasya prasave punar api taṁ vadhaṁ cakāra | tasmin kāle kṣatrāṇyaḥ kevalān alpān putrān rakṣituṁ śekuḥ || triḥ-saptakṛtvaḥ pṛthivīṁ kṛtvā niḥkṣatriyāṁ prabhuḥ ||
Vāsudeva said: O king, at that time the Kṣatriya women managed to protect only a few sons. Yet the rest—even the very young children—were swiftly slain again. Those who remained hidden in the womb became the seed by which the whole earth was repopulated. But whenever a child was born from such a pregnancy, Paraśurāma would again put him to death. Thus, the mighty one made the earth “without Kṣatriyas” twenty-one times.
वासुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the moral peril of unchecked vengeance: even when framed as retribution against a warrior class, violence that reaches the unborn and the very young exposes a conflict with broader dharma—especially the duty to protect the innocent and restrain wrath.
Vāsudeva recounts Paraśurāma’s repeated extermination of Kṣatriyas. A few children are saved by Kṣatriya women, and some survive in the womb and later repopulate the earth; yet Paraśurāma is said to kill even those born thereafter, making the earth ‘without Kṣatriyas’ twenty-one times.