Shloka 55
Rāma–Jāmadagnya-janma-kāraṇa and Kṣatra-kṣaya
Paraśurāma’s origins and the depletion/restoration of kṣatriya lineages
कृपया परया5<विष्टो वनमेव जगाम ह । इस प्रकार शीघ्र ही पृथ्वीको क्षत्रियोंसे हीन करके महातेजस्वी परशुराम अत्यन्त दयासे द्रवित हो वनमें ही चले गये ।। ५४ $ ।। ततो वर्षसहस्रेषु समतीतेषु केषुचित्
kṛpayā parayāviṣṭo vanam eva jagāma ha | evaṃ śīghram eva pṛthivīṃ kṣatriyair hīnāṃ kṛtvā mahātejasvī paraśurāmaḥ atyantaṃ dayayā dravitaḥ ho vanam eva cale gataḥ || tato varṣa-sahasreṣu samatīteṣu keṣucit |
कृपया परया विष्टो वनमेव जगाम ह। एवं शीघ्रं निःक्षत्रियां कृत्वा महीम् महातेजाः परशुरामो दयया द्रवितो वनमेव जगाम। ततो वर्षसहस्रेषु समतीतेषु केषुचित्॥
वासुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when an act is framed as retribution or duty, unchecked violence can culminate in moral exhaustion; compassion and remorse can redirect one toward restraint and withdrawal, highlighting the ethical tension between kṣatriya action and the higher demand for mercy.
Vāsudeva recounts that Paraśurāma, after rapidly eliminating the kṣatriyas and leaving the earth without them, becomes deeply moved by compassion and goes to the forest; the verse then transitions to a later time—after thousands of years have passed.