Did you know that Parashurama or Bhargava Rama, the Brahmin priest and warrior did train Karna, as a great archer and warrior but at the end cursed him also to forget the mantras to recall the astras as he lerned that Karna had decived him by saying he was a Brahmin?
Parashurama's foray in the Dwapara Yuga continues eventhough he had retired into the Mahendra parvat after his savage actions of slaying the Kashatriyas. Karna, the much misunderstood warrior, one of the main protagonists of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata and a tragic hero , went out of his way to somehow get trained by Parashurama. Karna had deceptively told Parashurama that he was Brahamana so that he could take him as disciple. Parasurama laid his palm on Karna's striking youth head, blessing him, He said I will teach you everything I know. Thus began the tutelage in Parashuaram's ashrama. Parashurama had found an extraordinary pupil both in respect of knowledge of Vedas and archery. Karna wanted to be fully proficient in the archer's marital knowldege, and Parashurama promiseed him that. He taught him for more than three years and Karna learned about devastras - astras of the Gods of light. He acquired the knowledge of all astras that could be had in this world even Brahmastra and the Bhargavastra. Karana even told his friend and mentor Duryodhana, the Kaurava prince that he was very well versed in archery having learned about al weponry from Parashurama.
However, Karna's luck ran out. One day Parashurama was sleeping with his head on Karna's thigh. A leech pierced Karna;s thigh from one end to the other but thinking that his teacher's sleep would be disturbed, Karna tolerated the pain in silence. When the blood trcikled to Parasurama's face he woke up and found the room in his ashrama was full of blood stains Then Karna was made to reveal his identity to Parasuram who had guessed that he was a kashatriya and not a brahmin, and told him so, Then in fury for decieving him of his identtty, Karna was cursed by Parashasurama, This curse came into effect on 18th day of the Kurukshetra war when Karna was relentlessly attacked by Arjuna when he could not remember the mantras to be uttered to invite the divaystra. taught to him by Parashurama. Then he rembered the curse of Parasurama who had said :"For decieving your preceptor, you will forget all the divine weapons when necessasry. By that time he had lost the war to Arjuna."
Legend of Parashurama also described him return to a village, after battles, in what is now Aihole in the Badami Taluka in Bagalkot distrct of Karnataka. While the warriror washed his axe beyond a sharp turn in the river Malaprabha, unknown to him, village women were washing their clothes downstream His mighty axe starined the entrire river red and the women expclaimed "Ai hole" translating to to "Oh! What a river! ". A rock shaped like an axe on the Malaprabha river bank north of the village is associated with this legend.
Note: To be continued in the next episode - Parashurama or Bhargava Rama - Part VI, retirement home in Westcoast of India
Narasipur Char
