Did you know that Parashurama or Bhargava Rama, who has lived on from Treta Yuga to the present Kaliyuga, has reportedly settled down in many places in South India of which the Parashurama Kshetra in the areas demarcated by the Indian state of Kerala retrived from the Arabian Sea in one.?
Parashurama or Bhargava Rama, born in early Treta Yuga to sage Jamadagni and his wife Renuka, as the sixth avatara of Lord Vishnu, is the divine and fiery man carrying his weapon Parashu, the primitive tool of the man in woods. He fullfilled the assigned role of eliminating most of the evil and despotic Kashatriya rulers of the land; He single handedly corrected the cosmic equilibrium by destroying the Kshatriya warriors twenty-one times. There is also a myth of extermination of kashatriyas by Brahamnical class or priestly caste which has been mythcalised to the legendary invasion of India from Egypt, under leadership of Sesostris or Parasurma, the leader with the battle axe.
Much sobered and detached in the later part of the Treta Yuga itself Parashurama encountered his succesor avatara of Rama of Ayodhya and handed over his divine powers to him. He then continued to live on in Dwapara Yuga and tutoring in warfare the heroes such as Bhishma Pitamaha, Dronacharya, Karna and many others related to the epic Mahabharata events. He entered into the Kaliyuga (present aeon) as a Chiranjeevi (immortal) and a sage inclined towards spirituality, He is believed to have created the last episodic event of his life by establishing the Parashurama Ksherta as part of the Mahendra Parvat, also known as coast of Malabar, or Konkan coast, a land retrieved from the Arabian sea, which is part of the present day Kerala coast. This, he did after encountering Varuna, the sea God and commanding Varuna to recede to make land; he demarcated the land to be reclaimed from the sea by releasing his axe (or shot an arrow). This land is thus a gift from the ocean-god Varuna. The place from where he shot his arrow is on Salher fort (the second highest peak and the highest fort in Maharashtra) in the Baglan taluka of Nashik district of Maharashtra. There is a temple on the summit of this fort dedicated to Parashurama and there are footprints in the rock which are 4 times the size of normal humans.
This land reclaimed from the sea extends from Gokarna to Kanyakumari, which was then created exclusivly for the Brahmins.
In another legend, it is said that after Parashurama exterminated Kshatriyas , and at sage Vishwamitra's instructions gifted the entrie territory he had won to sage Kashyapa and other Brahamanas, And thus, having no place to call his own, he performed a rigorous penance as a result of which the god Varuna granted him a boon of reclaimed land from the sea. This place is located at city of Chiploon in Konkan region of Maharashtra. Another place where he washed his battles axe in the Malaprabha river in Karnataka has been mentioned in the earlier episode.
Some of the other places in India which are claimed to be related to Parashurama's life events are:
a) A place called Panchthirthi near Simla in north India, which is a confluence of five rivers. It is believed that the hermitage of Jamadagni, Parashurma's father, was at this place. It was here, that the legend says, Parashurama was born, and he killed Sahasrarjuna. or King Kartvirarjuna. There is a Shiva temple here named Parashurameshwara .
b) After donating entire territory won by him, Parashurama went to a place named Shurparaka, It is also identified as a village Sopara near Mumbai, Maharashtra.
c) On the border of Kurukshetra in Haryana, there is a place called Samantapanchak, According to Mahabharata, here, Parashurama created five water bodies, kundas, This place is now called Ramahrida.
d) Parashuram Kund is a famous Nadi (River) Tirtha of the Hindus in the north - eastern region of Arunachal Pradesh of India, It is a very ancient and delightful place, which finds mention in various scriptures including Shrimad Bhagwat Purana. The legend goes that Lord Parashurama, in order to make atonement for his sins, washed his blood stained parashu (axe) in the river at this place. It is now a heritage site of panoramic natural beauty, equipped with forested mountains, valleys and plains. Government of India is establishing here a 51 feet divine and grand idol of lord Parshuram made of panchadhatu.
e) Near Simla in North India, there is a place called Renuka thirtha. The sacred tank here is named Parashutram Tal. The mountain here is known as as Jamadagni Parvat.
f) The place where Parashurama released the arrow to reclaim land from the sea is also calimed to be in the Konkan area, known as Lote Parashurama and now has a temple dedicated to Parashurama.
g) Another interesting but factual event is the creation of the Chitpavan Konkanastha Brahmins of the Konkan region of Mahasrashtra. It is believed that sage Parashurama did this by purifying a group of sixty fishermen at a fuenral pyre.. They superiroity within caste hierarchy by means of this myth highlighting their very marginality to society.
h) In the "Sahyadri Khanda" of the Skanda Purana, Parashurama is described as having reclaimed Konkan from the sea and is hence named as Konkana-suta (koṅkaṇāsuta/कोङ्कणासुत), the son of Konkana. His mother Renuka is also known as Konkana, meaning born in Konkana country.
Note: To be continued as: "Parashurama or Bhargava Rama - Part VII History of Chitpavan Konkanastha Brahmins"
Narasipur Char
