Shloka 53
Rāma–Jāmadagnya-janma-kāraṇa and Kṣatra-kṣaya
Paraśurāma’s origins and the depletion/restoration of kṣatriya lineages
स हैहयसहस्राणि हत्वा परममन्युमान्
sa haihayasahasrāṇi hatvā paramam anyumān
Vāsudeva said: “He, filled with the fiercest wrath, slew thousands of the Haihayas.” The line highlights how uncontrolled anger, when joined to martial power, can lead to vast slaughter—an ethical warning often raised in the Śānti discourse even while recounting heroic deeds.
वासुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the destructive reach of extreme anger (manyu) when it governs action: wrath can turn strength into indiscriminate slaughter, a point aligned with Śānti Parva’s broader ethical emphasis on self-control and restraint.
Vāsudeva briefly recounts a violent episode in which a wrathful hero kills vast numbers—“thousands of the Haihayas”—as part of a larger discussion in Śānti Parva that uses past deeds to reflect on conduct, power, and moral responsibility.