Shloka 8
तेषां चानुगता ये च क्षत्रिया: क्षत्रियर्षभ । तांश्व सर्वानवामृद्नाद् राम: प्रहरतां वर:,क्षत्रियशिरोमणे! उस समय जिन-जिन क्षत्रियोंने उनका साथ दिया, उन सबको भी योद्धाओंमें श्रेष्ठ परशुरामजीने मिट्टीमें मिला दिया
teṣāṃ cānugatā ye ca kṣatriyāḥ kṣatriyarṣabha | tāṃś ca sarvān avāmṛdnād rāmaḥ praharatāṃ varaḥ kṣatriyaśiromaṇe ||
Wika ni Rāma: “O toro sa mga kṣatriya, at hiyas sa korona ng mga mandirigma! Yaong mga kṣatriyang sumunod at umalalay sa kanila bilang mga kapanalig—si Rāma (Paraśurāma), ang pinakadakila sa mga humahataw sa digmaan—ay dinurog din silang lahat, hanggang maging alabok.”
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical logic of collective participation in adharma: those who actively support wrongdoing become implicated in its consequences. It also raises the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between righteous punishment and the danger of excessive, sweeping violence.
Paraśurāma declares that he not only destroyed the principal offenders but also annihilated the kṣatriyas who followed them as allies, portraying a campaign of total defeat against their supporting forces.