The Story of Parashurama (Sarga 74-76)

In the Bāla Kāṇḍa of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, from sargas 74 to 76, the story of Parashurama is described.

The story itself is spread over three–four chapters, but its main points are six. Touching those six points, we begin this deeper, essential reflection on the topic.

The very first main point of this story – of the Parashurama episode – is this:
When Ram broke Shiva’s bow and married Sita, then, on hearing the news of the breaking of Shiva’s bow, Parashurama, who was living on Mount Mahendra, came with a speed as fast as the mind. He came to Ram and gave Ram a bow which he had kept with him as a trust, as a legacy. That bow is called the Vaishnava bow.

So: Ram broke Shiva’s bow, and Parashurama came to give Ram the Vaishnava bow. This is the main point of the story.

Then the second point is that when Parashurama came, he said to Ram, “I have seen your strength, your prowess. Breaking Shiva’s bow was not possible for anyone. You broke it, and that’s why I am giving you this other bow, the Vaishnava bow. You now string this bow as well and show me. Only then will I accept that your strength and valor are truly extraordinary and inconceivable.”

Then the third point is that when Ram strung the Vaishnava bow and fitted an arrow on it, he asked Parashurama, “I have put the string and set the arrow on it. Now tell me, where should I release it?

Now it is necessary to let it fly.”

So, as per Parashurama’s words—though it isn’t written very explicitly in the story—when Ram strung that bow and released the arrow, he destroyed those lokas (realms) of Parashurama which he had gained through tapasya. That is, with the Vaishnava bow Ram destroyed the lokas obtained through Parashurama’s austerities. This is the third point.

Then the fourth point is that when Parashurama was coming, Ram and his three brothers, having been married, were returning to Ayodhya with their brides, along with Dasharatha, the sages and everyone else. While they were on their way back to Ayodhya, Parashurama came running at great speed. As he came, the earth began to tremble, and animals and birds began to behave in strange ways – which has been described as omens (shakun).

Then a fifth point is mentioned: that Parashurama is the grandson of Ruchika Muni, and the son of Jamadagni Muni. By telling this, they have given us a clue to understand Parashurama. If we understand Ruchika, if we understand Jamadagni, then we will be able to understand Parashurama as well.

Then there is a last point: that Parashurama killed the kshatriyas – this is what is said in the Puranic stories. In this particular episode in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa it is not written that Parashurama killed the kshatriyas, nor why he did so.

The reason is: a kshatriya named Kartavirya Arjuna killed his father Jamadagni. Angered by this, Parashurama took a vow that he would rid the earth of kshatriyas. This point is not specially highlighted in this episode here. But that Kartavirya Arjuna killed Jamadagni – this much is mentioned.

Now, before we go into the story itself, we first look at its main figure, which is Parashurama. First we have to understand: Who is Parashurama?

Till now, we all have considered Parashurama among the avatars. In Hindu culture it is said that many avatars have taken place – like the Varaha avatar, Vamana avatar, Narasimha avatar, Kurma avatar, and so on. Many such avatars are described in our Puranic scriptures. Among them is one Purusha-avatar: the Parashurama avatar.

So, in order to understand Parashurama, we need to understand a little about what an avatar is. Only then can we properly understand Parashurama.

The word avatar means “descent”. If you break the word avatār into two parts—ava and tār—ava means “down” and tār means “to cross or to come down.” So “to come down below.”

What does “coming down” mean?
It means descending from a higher level downwards. “Above” means that some consciousness is present in a higher sheath.

We can think of it this way: we speak of six sheaths (koshas):

• Ānandamaya kosha
  
  

• Hiranyamaya (Hiranmaya) kosha
  
  

• Vijñānamaya kosha
  
  

These are considered higher sheaths.

Then there are:

• Manomaya kosha
  
  

• Prāṇamaya kosha
  
  

• Annamaya kosha
  
  

These are counted as lower sheaths.

So, when some consciousness that is present in the higher sheaths descends into the lower sheaths – that is, when it comes down to the levels of mind, prana and body, the gross level – then we say that this consciousness has descended, it has “taken avatar”.

Let’s understand this with a couple of examples, and then we will come to Parashurama.

For example, earlier we took the Kurma avatar. What does Kurma avatar mean?
Kurma means tortoise.

In our day-to-day dealings, in our social relationships, all kinds of actions keep happening all the time, twenty-four hours a day. Those actions create reactions. And when reactions occur, very often unpleasant situations arise. Someone did a certain action, we reacted, they didn’t like our reaction, and then the atmosphere loses its grace; it drops a little, it becomes somewhat disturbed. If the reaction we gave wasn’t liked by the one in front, the atmosphere becomes somewhat spoiled.

So, in the Kurma avatar it is said: just as a tortoise moves with all its limbs stretched outwards, but the moment it feels some danger approaching, it pulls all its limbs inside. Once it withdraws inside, no matter what danger comes, its back is very strong; even if someone strikes it, it will not be harmed.

So pulling its limbs back inside – that is the special feature of the tortoise.

In the same way, our senses, our mind, our intellect – when we act and someone reacts in a way we don’t like, we should immediately withdraw our senses, mind and intellect, not stretch them outward. That is, we should become silent. We should not let argument and conflict arise on that issue. If we do this, then the “danger” of that reaction passes easily, and we are saved from an unpleasant situation.

If we withdraw our senses, mind and intellect inward and do not argue, that is the Kurma avatar.

In the same way, take the Matsya avatar. What happens in Matsya avatar?

If you split the word matsya into parts: one is mat and then “sya” from sya, t, ya. Mat means “my” – my view, my opinion. And sya means “to think”.

In our ordinary condition we never really reflect on who we truly are. We only have a firm belief: “I am this body”, and I must fulfill my duties in this life, in these relationships, in society. But who am I really?

We never reflect on this.

Yet, one day a situation comes in every person’s life, when we enter into this reflection: “Who am I truly? What is the purpose of my life?” So when this “I-thought” – this reflection “Who am I really?” – descends within us, that is called the descent of Matsya, the Matsya avatar.

So Matsya avatar does not mean what we normally think – that God came in the form of a fish, or a tortoise, or a boar. Avatar has nothing to do with these literal forms. Avatar means that a higher, nobler consciousness descends to the level of our lower mind or to the level of the annamaya kosha (the physical layer).

Suppose I am caught in greed. I am stuck in greed, and then some higher consciousness descends within me and destroys that greed. The consciousness that destroys my greed is a higher consciousness.

Just as our Puranas speak of many types of avatars in this way, so the Parashurama avatar is also of this kind.

What is Parashurama avatar doing?

Parashurama did two special works. In the Valmiki Ramayana episode we are looking at, only one of his works is described. What is that work? Ram broke Shiva’s bow, and Parashurama immediately came and gave Ram Vishnu’s bow. Only this much is described in this episode.

But there is one more work of Parashurama, which is described in the Puranas, though not in this story here. We will talk about that as well because it is very important, and it is hinted at in brief in this episode, though not explained in detail.

That other work of Parashurama is this: whenever our mind gets entangled in vasanas, desires, wishes, hopes, expectations, and in the present state we live in, our mind is indeed entangled in all of these – then a higher consciousness that descends to the level of the mind and cuts these vasanas and desires, that destroys them, that is called the Parashurama consciousness.

So the Parashurama consciousness is doing two things:

1. It cuts the desires and vasanas that have arisen in our mind. It destroys them.
   
   

2. And when Ram breaks the bow of Shiva, it gives him the bow of Vishnu.
   
   

Now we will understand both these things. The first is that it is the consciousness that cuts our vasanas and desires.

So the question arises: for this work that Parashurama has done, why is his name Parashurama? What is the connection with “parashu” (axe)? There is no animal here; it’s not about a literal animal.

For this, they have chosen an action from yajña as a symbol. In a yajña, what happens? A yupa is fixed into the ground – a sacrificial post. A tree is taken for this yupa. All the branches of this tree that spread out around it are cut off with an axe, and then the main trunk is fixed in the ground. That upright trunk becomes the symbol of the yupa, to which the sacrificial animal is tied.

So in the word Parashurama they have taken Rama to mean “consciousness”, and parashu to mean “axe”. Just as we need an axe to cut the branches of a tree that spread out on all sides, in the same way, the consciousness that cuts off the branches of hopes, expectations and vasanas that have sprouted in the tree of our personality, that consciousness is symbolised by parashu.

Parashu means axe.

Just as we use an axe to cut the branches of a tree, there is a special consciousness that cuts off useless branches from our personality-tree – the branches of unnecessary hopes, desires, expectations – and makes our personality clean, beautiful and disciplined. The consciousness that cleans up our personality is the Parashurama consciousness.

So now we’ve understood one of his works.

In the story it is said that Parashurama made the earth free of kshatriyas. The word kshatriya here is symbolic of those “branches.” Cutting those branches is being expressed symbolically as “Parashurama destroyed the kshatriyas and emptied the earth of kshatriyas, and one day he stopped this destruction of kshatriyas and gave the earth in donation to Kashyapa.”

This is symbolic language. What is its deeper meaning?

Who is Kashyapa? And what is “earth” (prithvi)?

Prithvi here is this body – along with mind, intellect, subconscious (chitta) and ego in which it operates. Mind, intellect, chitta and senses – this whole body-complex is called “prithvi”.

And Kashyapa is the jivātma (individual soul). The word Kashyapa is a symbol for the jivātma in the Puranas. Thirteen wives of Kashyapa are described in the Puranas. Kashyapa is the jivātma, and those many “wives” are the different tendencies and qualities that accompany the jivātma. (Their description we’ll leave aside for now, otherwise it will become too long.)

So Kashyapa is the jivātma, and prithvi is this mind-intellect-chitta-senses-body complex.

Now, we need to understand the cycle of time (kālachakra): time is circular – like a wheel – not a straight line. When a cart moves, the part of the wheel that is on top comes down, and the part that was below goes up. In the same way, time moves in cycles.

There was a time when consciousness was present in its Self-form (ātmasvarūpa). That is, every person knew clearly: “I am the conscious soul, not the body; the body is my instrument.” But this condition does not remain forever. Just as a wheel doesn’t remain in one position, it keeps turning.

So in that state, when everyone lived in the awareness of the Self, gradually there was a decline. First desire entered. Then more decline – desires, wishes, hopes, expectations entered. Then further decline – vasanas entered the human mind.

As this downfall happened, the Parashurama consciousness, which is present in the depth of our own being, kept descending again and again and cleaning our personality.

When some desire arose, this consciousness cut that desire-branch; when expectation arose, it cut that; when hopes came, it cleared them. It kept cleaning our personality.

So this Parashurama consciousness, as we fell from the Self-state – as our wheel came down from the top – kept awakening from time to time and kept cleaning our personality from within.

But in this circular movement of time, a day also comes when body-consciousness becomes very strong. So strong that the memory “I am the soul” is completely lost. A situation like today’s: body-consciousness is extremely strong, and we have totally forgotten that “I am the soul.”

The story is telling us that when body-consciousness becomes very powerful and Self-consciousness goes into complete forgetfulness, then this special cleaning consciousness – the Parashurama consciousness – stops doing its work.

This is what is meant in symbolic style by: “Parashurama stopped performing the yajña. He gave up his work of destroying the kshatriyas and gave the earth as a gift to Kashyapa.” That is, when body-consciousness is very strong within us, the Parashurama consciousness stops the work of cleaning and leaves it to the jivātma – “Now the soul may do as it pleases.”

This special consciousness – the Parashurama consciousness – then withdraws from its activity and goes to Mahendra Mountain to rest. The meaning of going to Mahendra Mountain is: it goes into the depth of the mind, into the depth of the chitta and sleeps there in a dormant state.

So when body-consciousness is dominating, this special cleaning consciousness does not come out; it does not clean our personality. It goes into the depths of the chitta and falls asleep.

But even after it sleeps, it will come again – because it has two tasks to do. This is what our present story is telling us: when it sleeps and then when it comes again.

When does it return? It comes when Self-remembrance arises.

Ram means Self-remembrance – remembering “Who am I?”. The descent of Ram means: I remember that “I am the conscious soul.”

The conscious mind had earlier kept saying for a long time, “I am the body.” It stayed in that state for a very long time. But because time is circular, one day in that cycle a moment comes when I come to know my true form and I begin to live in the reflection: “I am not the body. The body is an instrument that I must use properly. I am the conscious soul that runs this instrument – that is, Ram.”

But the story tells a very important thing: on the day when this remembrance of our true Self descends into our mind – meaning when we become established in Self-knowledge – this remembrance is still very new. It is just a child. In the story, Ram is still a child.

So this remembrance is fresh and delicate. Any new thing can be destroyed by a strong blow from outside. We are not alone in this world, not even in our own homes. We live in society, in the midst of many kinds of consciousness all around us.

This newly awakened Self-remembrance in us is tender. If a strong body-consciousness from outside attacks it, this fresh remembrance of the Self can be destroyed.

So how do we protect it?

The story says: there was a time when every person was established in the Self-form. When we were in that state, an imprint (sanskar) of that state was left in our subconscious (avachetana). We often discussed this while reading the Bhagavad Gita—that whatever we think repeatedly leaves a clear imprint in the subconscious.

So when we once lived in Self-remembrance, even today that imprint lies in our chitta. That imprint of past Self-knowledge is what is called Vishnu’s weapon in this story.

So when Self-remembrance appears on the conscious mind, this special Parashurama consciousness immediately picks up that old imprint of Self-knowledge from the subconscious and connects it with the fresh, conscious Self-remembrance that has arisen now.

The Self-remembrance on the conscious mind is new and tender, but the imprint in the chitta is in seed form and very deep. The Parashurama consciousness brings that imprint out and joins it with the conscious Self-knowledge, making it strong.

If this feels a bit abstract, let’s understand it another way.

Suppose I got angry over a very small matter. For example, I said, “Please keep this glass on the table.” But the other person kept the glass on a chair instead of the table. It was a tiny thing. But I became very angry.

The trigger was very small, but the anger that arose became very big. How did that small anger suddenly become so large?

Because there is also a sanskar of anger sitting in the subconscious. When anger arises on the conscious level, the sanskar of anger in the subconscious immediately comes up, joins with the anger on the conscious mind and makes it much bigger.

This is how it works with all our emotions – desire, anger, greed, attachment, good or bad; all of them. The conscious mind is connected with the subconscious.

So, when Self-remembrance arises on the conscious mind, a special consciousness – Parashurama – immediately takes out the sanskar of Self-knowledge from the subconscious and unites it with the conscious Self-remembrance, thereby strengthening it.

Now, Ram broke Shiva’s bow. Breaking Shiva’s bow means smashing body-consciousness – ending it, destroying the identification “I am only the body and nothing else,” and also the behavior that is based on that body-consciousness:

“I am a mother; if my son says something to me, I feel hurt – my ego is hurt.” This is body-identification (deh-abhiman). In body-consciousness I take my roles and positions to be absolutely real and keep getting hurt whenever anyone says something.

When Self-remembrance (Ram) arises and Shiva’s bow is broken, it means that the body-consciousness that was present within me is shattered.

So when Ram breaks the bow – dhanush-bhanga – as soon as the bow is broken, Parashurama, who was resting on Mahendra Mountain, immediately comes with the speed of the mind and gives Ram the Vaishnava bow.

Giving the Vaishnava bow does not mean handing over some physical bow. It means he strengthens the Self-remembrance.

So this is a main theme of the story: Parashurama is an avatar, a descended consciousness, and this avatar-consciousness does two things. In one phase of time, it cleans our personality; in another phase, it firmly establishes our Self-knowledge.

Now, in the story it is written that when Parashurama came, “the earth shook, storms and winds began to blow, birds started crying in terrifying voices, and deer started moving on the right side.” All this has been called omens (shakun).

So we must understand: what are these omens?

Omens are nothing but a reflection of our own thoughts. Whatever thoughts are in our mind – whether positive or negative – we see nature according to those thoughts. Nature itself is not doing anything special for us. The wind is blowing, trees are swaying, flowers are blooming, birds are calling, animals are walking. Whatever is happening in nature is happening naturally. Nature stays in its own natural state.

But we see whatever is happening in nature through the lens of our own thoughts. If my thoughts are negative, I see everything outside in a negative way. If my mind is positive, I interpret every natural event in a positive way.

For example: suppose I am very disturbed about something, with lots of turmoil in my mind. My mind is generating very negative thoughts. I go outside. I see a bird sitting on an electric wire. My eyes fall on that bird, then I move on. That image of the bird sitting there goes deep into my mind.

I go ahead for the work I had in mind, and that work doesn’t get done. I come back. Now my mind decides: “There was one bird sitting on the wire. If there had been two birds, then my work would have been done. Because there was only one, my work failed. One bird is a bad omen.”

I’m sharing this because many people have told me such things:
“If you go out and see one bird sitting on a tree, your work won’t be done. If two birds are sitting, then your work will succeed.”

When I had already entered the spiritual path, I reflected on this. How true is this idea?

I understood that nature is doing all its own work in a natural way. These “omens” are only human mental constructions.

Another time, I was going to Kanpur in a car. A cat crossed the road in front. The driver suddenly stopped the car. I asked, “Why did you stop?”

He said, “A cat crossed the road. That’s an inauspicious sign.”

I told him, “There is no such thing as an inauspicious omen. The thing is, you don’t have control over your mind, intelligence and senses. Because of that lack of inner mastery, such beliefs have become strong in you.”

So, omens and bad omens are created by our own mind. And these beliefs take hold especially in those who do not have mastery over their own nature – over their mind, intellect and senses, that is, over their inner “prakriti”. Those who are not established in their true Self-form are the ones who get caught in these omens and bad omens.

Those who have control over their nature, who know, “This is my mind – it will think what I decide; these are my senses – they will see what I choose to see; these are my ears – I will only listen to what I choose; this is my speech – I will only say what I choose,” such people are not affected by omens. For them, all these popular beliefs of good and bad omens have no power.

First we project our thoughts outward, then we start believing, “Because there was one bird, my work failed,” while someone with a positive mindset might say, “There were two birds – that’s why my work succeeded. Where there is a pair, things go well.”

We create such beliefs within ourselves. Omens are not some objective reality. They are just our own mind, our own thoughts reflected outside. In the story too, these omens have been presented symbolically in this way.

Now, how has it been shown here?

It is written that birds started uttering terrible cries – that is, this was considered a bad omen. Then it is written that deer began walking on the right side – that is considered a good omen. Why is this language used?

Because the Parashurama consciousness does two jobs. When it does the job of cutting and clearing, that is, when it comes to uproot our desires, vasanas, hopes and expectations, what happens inside us?

If you apply this to yourself, you’ll see it clearly. Suppose I have many hopes and expectations, many desires. One day a consciousness arises within me and says, “These are the cause of your sorrow. Let go of these hopes, these expectations, these desires. If you leave them, your life will be peaceful and joyful.”

But letting go of desires, hopes and expectations is not easy. Why not?

Because I start arguing inside: “This child is my child. I have raised him. Can’t I have at least this much hope from him? Can’t I expect at least this much?”

So when a consciousness descends into me and says, “Drop these expectations,” a great commotion of thoughts begins within. “How can I let go? I’ve done so much, should they not do anything for me?” I don’t want to drop my hopes and expectations, so the mind becomes filled with noise.

In Puranic literature, birds symbolise thoughts, because thoughts fly within us like birds fly in the sky. So when the story says, “Birds began uttering terrible cries,” it means that when the Parashurama consciousness comes to cut our hopes and expectations, there’s a lot of inner turmoil.

This inner commotion has been symbolically described as “birds crying in terrifying voices.”

Then, it says that deer started moving on the right side. The word mrig does not just mean an animal like a deer. In Sanskrit, the root mrig means “to search, to seek, to discover.” So mrigaya, which we usually translate as “hunting,” actually means search, exploration, quest, not killing animals.

So when it’s written, “The deer began moving on the right side,” it means: a new understanding came into being – the understanding of how important my subconscious mind is, how important the sanskars in my subconscious are, and that the sanskars of that age in which everyone lived in Self-knowledge still lie within my chitta.

If on the conscious level I come into Self-knowledge again, then that old sanskar will come and strengthen this new Self-knowledge.

This was a new discovery. Parashurama came, and with his coming, this new insight arose – symbolised as him giving Ram the bow of Vishnu. This was something very noble, therefore described as a good omen: “The deer were moving on the right side.”

There were no literal deer walking on the right, nor were Ram, Lakshman, Dasharatha, the brides and so on literally walking along a physical road. This is a spiritual story, and we are understanding it through the lens of spirituality. So we must interpret these omens spiritually as well.

We have to understand that this special consciousness is present within us. We don’t have to bring it from outside. All we need is a little effort – to pull ourselves out of body-consciousness and become established in Self-consciousness. If we can do just this much, the rest of the work will be done by the consciousness already present within.

This is a very hope-giving vision, a very uplifting thought – that there is a consciousness within us that will make us strong. We just have to make a small effort to understand our real Self.

So the earth shaking, storms blowing, earthquakes and so on – these are all spoken of only symbolically, to support and point towards the two works of the Parashurama consciousness.

Now we come to the main points about Ruchika and Jamadagni. It is written that Parashurama’s grandfather is Ruchika Muni, and his father is Jamadagni Muni. So what does Ruchika mean?

The word Ruchika comes from the Sanskrit root ruch, and muni means “mind.” So Ruchika Muni means that mind which illuminates Self-knowledge, which makes it shine – a pure, clear mind.

Why has it said that Parashurama’s grandfather is Ruchika Muni? To show that the Parashurama consciousness is a special, higher consciousness whose “father’s side” is a pure and illumined mind. Only from a pure mind does Parashurama consciousness arise.

Then Ruchika’s son is Jamadagni Muni. So we must understand the word Jamadagni. It has two parts: jamat and agni. Actually, jamat is a distorted form of yamat. The correct form is yamat, whose root meaning in Sanskrit is “controlled, disciplined”.

So when our mind becomes pure and illumined – that is Ruchika Muni – from that arises Jamadagni, that is, a controlled consciousness. When our mind is pure and clear, only then can we truly control our senses, mind and intellect. That is Jamadagni.

And Jamadagni’s “son” is Parashurama. I’ve already explained that parashu means “axe” – the inner consciousness that cuts away unnecessary branches.

One more point remains: Parashurama gave Ram the Vaishnava bow, and Ram then gave that bow to Varuna at once. So who was this Varuna sitting there? What does this mean?

In our scriptures, the word Varuna has two main meanings: sometimes it refers to God, and sometimes to nature (prakriti). Both usages appear in the Vedas and the Puranas.

Here, when it says “Ram gave the weapon to Varuna,” Varuna is used in the sense of prakriti, nature. Why did he give it to Varuna?

Because Self-knowledge was no longer just limited to Ram’s mind. It had begun to flow into his behavior, his life, into his nature. Giving Vishnu’s bow to Varuna means that Self-knowledge has now descended from mere thought into actual living, into prakriti.

So Ram giving the Vaishnava bow to Varuna means: Self-knowledge now shows itself in life and conduct, not only in thinking.

Another point appears in the story. When Parashurama gave Ram the bow of Vishnu, Ram strung it and asked, “Where should I release the arrow? Once the string is drawn and the arrow is set, it must be released.”

He asked Parashurama, “Where shall I let it go?”

Parashurama said that the arrow should be released to destroy the lokas (worlds) he had obtained since a certain time. So Ram released the arrow and destroyed those lokas of Parashurama.

Reading this, it feels a bit odd: “The lokas I have obtained – should they be destroyed?”

Here, loka means “vision, way of seeing.”

When we are established in Self-knowledge and our consciousness is very elevated, many noble ways of seeing arise within us – vision of love, vision of virtue, vision of compassion, vision of goodwill, vision of forgiveness, vision of equality. All kinds of higher “visions” awaken within.

But even higher than all of these is Self-vision (ātma-drishti) – seeing everything from the standpoint “I am the soul.” So when Parashurama says, “Destroy the lokas I have obtained,” it means: once Self-vision has been attained, all these other visions automatically arise within us. They are no longer special achievements – they come by themselves.

The most important thing is Self-vision.

So Parashurama says, “Now that I have attained Self-vision, all these other visions – equality, forgiveness, virtue and so on – are no longer needed as separate achievements. Let them be absorbed in Self-vision.”

So when Ram releases the arrow and destroys the lokas attained by Parashurama, it is symbolic. It means that when Self-vision is fully developed, all other visions merge into Self-vision.