Wielding the Axe of Parashurama

“Once King Kartavirya Arjuna (Sahasrarjuna) and his army visited Jamadagni, a Brahmin sage, who fed his guest and the whole army with his divine cow Surabhi; the king demanded the magical cow and Jamadagni refused because he needed the cow for his religious ceremonies. King Kartavirya Arjuna (Sahasrarjuna) sent his soldiers to take the cow and Parashurama killed the entire army and the king with his axe. In return, the prince beheaded Jamadagni, the father of Parashurama.

When Parashurama returned home he found his mother crying hysterically. He asked why she was crying, she beat her chest twenty-one times. In a rage, Parashurama vowed to exterminate the world's Kshatriyas twenty-one times. He killed the entire clan of Kartavirya Arjuna (Sahasrarjuna), thus conquering the entire earth. He offered his dead father's soul tarpana with the blood of the kings and warriors he slew. He then conducted the Ashwamedha sacrifice, done only by sovereign kings, and gave the entire land he owned to the priests who performed at the yajña.”

What is the meaning of this tale. Every Purana has a deep spiritual meaning and might reveal to individuals consciousness certain esoteric messages. Many times we think there has to be a universal meaning to every story or myth but myths are not designed outside the ambit of certain cultural backdrop.

The four classification of material nature which is identified by the caste system is in effect talks only of individual consciousness in various modes of action as defined by the Bhagavad Gita.

“According to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society are created by Me. And although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the nondoer, being unchangeable.”…….BG 4:13

The second paragraph of the above sited story is the one that reveals the inner spiritual dimension of the myth. Parahurama is the sixth avatar of Vishnu and belongs to the Second Age, and is the son of a Brahmin father Jamadagni and mother Renuka in Hindu mythology. He is considered one of the seven immortal (Ciranjivi) human. He received an axe after undertaking a terrible penance to please Siva, from whom he learned the methods of warfare and other skills. Vishnu, the Saguna Brahma, in his role of the preserver, obtains the axe of annihilation from Shiva, who has the role of the transformer. Act of preservation needs weeding out certain impure elements from every creation.

The Kshatriya caste is the symbolic representation of the category of individual consciousness which is ruled by passion, the guna of Rajas. The Divine cow (Gau in ancient Sanskrit means Cosmic energy) is the Divine or Cosmic energy which feeds the Rajasic guna but the nature of this guna is that it wants to possess this entity and make it its own thus creating an imbalance in the nature of its distribution. The individual who is rooted in Rajasic mode has to be reordered and the destruction of the Kshatriya clan signifies this act.

The entire system of the seven energy centres in the human being must be cleansed through eradication of the imbalances in the three gunas in all the seven levels of the human being. This is the destruction, twenty one times that is spoken of in this myth.

This is an act of preservation of the unsullied consciousness which enters physical body in creation.

The mother crying is the indication of the primal creative force lamenting the loss of the pure consciousness symbolized by the death of the Brahmin father. The conquering of the entire earth is the reordering of the entire creation with the right distribution of the attributes which restores balance and stillness in the merging of the human and the divine.

This act of restoration is also pointed out through the act of performing the Ashwamedha sacrifice

The Ashwamedha sacrifice is performed only by the king (Raja) or the rajas nature. The Ashvamedha, the highest expression of royal authority or the rajasic nature has to be sacrificed. Sacrificed means made holy or restored to its natural balance. In this myth this sacrifice is conducted by Parahurama, the Ciranjivi or the perfect and immortal human symbolizing one who is pure primal consciousness or the Paramatma.

Through this yajña or sacrifice the entire earth or creation is owned by the Priests or Brahmins.  Brahmins are the category of humans who have the three gunas in right balance.

Year 2012 is the beginning of the new age of transformation of consciousness and let us all participate in this process through the wielding of the axe of Parashurama in restoring the right balance in our individual consciousness.

Wishing you all a blessed NEW YEAR