Parashurama
Illustrated, animated, written and narrated by abhishapes.
ParashuRama, is a Shaktyavesha Avatar of Vishnu, the Supreme god of the HIndu faith. He is revered as one of the fiercest Warriors in our history, even though he was born a Brahman.
He is among the very few ‘Chiranjeevis’ or the ones who live across ages. For example, there are accounts of ParshuRama in the Ramayana, the events of which took place in the ‘Treta’ Yuga, and also the Mahabharata, which took place in the Dwapara Yuga.
It is believed that every avatar of Vishnu had its singular purpose. The purpose of ParashuRama was to emancipate humankind from the tyranny of the Kshatriya Clan… who were the Ruling class of the time.
Being a Chiranjeevi, there are several stories of Parshurama, but the one I’m about to narrate, is the most popular.
The Puranas record that Parashurama was born to the Brahman sage Jamadagni and Renuka, a princess of the Kshatriya class, and was the youngest of 5 sons
Legend has it that the great Kshatriya emperor Kartavirya Arjuna’ also known as Sahastrabahu.once visited the hermitage of sage Jamadagni.
After indulging in the offerings from the sacred cow Kamadhenu, and enjoying the hospitality of the Brahman, the arrogant Kshatriya demanded to take the cow with him for the betterment of his people. Jamadagni, a sage, needed the sacred cow in order to perform many of his religious rituals and thus , blatantly refused.
The refusal didn't go down well with the arrogant emperor. Nobody refuses an emperor, he thought. Not even a Brahman. As such , Arjuna lost his temper and chopped off the head of Jamadagni, and vandalised the hermitage.
Parshurama was away, and upon returning was informed of the carnage by his mother. In revenge, Parashurama killed Kartivirya Arjuna and his entire clan with a battleaxe given to him by Shiva Himself…. eventually killing all kshatriyas, and thus conquering the entire earth. He enacted this large-scale eradication of the kshatriyas for 21 generations,for each time, their wives survived and gave birth to new generations. He is fabled to have filled 5 entire lakes with the blood of Kshatriyas.
Parshurama has also been the ‘Guru’ of legendary warriors including Bhishma, Karna and Dronacharya himself.
This NFT is in honour of this great avatar of Vishnu, and has been illustrated, written and narrated by abhishapes, your favourite creator.