Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 303
Śrāddha-Kalpa: Pitṛ-Pūjā and Tithi-Phala (श्राद्धकल्पः पितृपूजा च तिथिफलम्)
त्रि:सप्तकृत्वः पृथिवी कृता निः:क्षत्रिया पुरा । पूर्वकालकी बात है, जमदग्निकुमार परशुरामजीने तीव्र रोषमें भरकर इक्कीस बार पृथ्वीको क्षत्रियोंसे शून्य कर दिया था
triḥ-saptakṛtvaḥ pṛthivī kṛtā niḥkṣatriyā purā |
毗湿摩说道：在远古之时，大地曾二十一度被变得不见刹帝利之族。此事令人忆起旧传：阇摩达伽尼之子帕罗修罗摩，因猛烈忿怒而炽燃，屡次诛灭刹帝利，使大地一再空缺其族——此段常被引以警示：嗔怒之力足以摧毁万物，而不加节制的复仇，即便披着“报应”的名义，也会招致沉重的伦理后果。
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse invokes Paraśurāma’s repeated extermination of Kshatriyas to warn that intense anger and vengeance can escalate into catastrophic, society-wide harm; ethical restraint and dharmic discernment are implied as necessary checks on retaliatory violence.
Bhīṣma, while instructing on conduct and moral order, cites an ancient precedent: the earth was rendered ‘without Kshatriyas’ twenty-one times—an allusion to Paraśurāma’s campaigns of retribution against the Kshatriya class.