Tīrtha-yātrā: Phalaśruti and Sacred Geography from Lohitya to Prayāga
Pulastya’s Instruction
पूरयित्वा नरव्यात्र रुधिरेणेति विश्रुतम् । पितरस्तर्पिता: सर्वे तथैव प्रपितामहा:,पुरुषसिंह! उन कुण्डोंको उन्होंने रक्तसे भर दिया था, ऐसा सुना जाता है। उसी रक्तसे परशुरामजीने अपने पितरों और प्रपितामहोंका तर्पण किया
pūrayitvā naravyātra rudhireṇeti viśrutam | pitaras tarpitāḥ sarve tathaiva prapitāmahāḥ puruṣasiṃha |
ಪುರುಷಸಿಂಹನೇ! ಅವನು ಆ ಕುಂಡಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾನವರ ರಕ್ತದಿಂದ ತುಂಬಿದನೆಂದು ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧ. ಅದೇ ರಕ್ತದಿಂದ ಪರಶುರಾಮನು ತನ್ನ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಪಿತೃಗಳನ್ನೂ ಪ್ರಪಿತಾಮಹರನ್ನೂ ತರ್ಪಣಮಾಡಿ ತೃಪ್ತಿಪಡಿಸಿದನು.
घुलस्त्य उवाच
The verse highlights the tension between ritual duty (tarpaṇa to ancestors) and the moral cost of violence: even acts framed as religious offerings can become ethically troubling when fueled by vengeance and bloodshed.
The speaker reports a famed tradition: Paraśurāma filled pits with the blood of slain men and then used that blood to perform ancestral libations, thereby ‘satisfying’ his forefathers and great-forefathers.