Guest guest Posted May 8, 2008 Report Share Posted May 8, 2008 Hare Krishna ! Dear Bhakthas, Let us sing the glories of Bhagavan Parashurama , on this auspicious day of "Parshurama- jayanthi ". Parashurama, the sixth avatar of Bahagavan Maha-Vishnu, belongs to the Treta yuga, and is the son of Maharshi Jamadagni and Renuka. "Parashu" means the divine axe, hence his name literally means Rama-with-the-divine axe. He attained "Parashu" after undertaking a great "Tapas" ( penance) to please Lord Shiva, from whom he learned the methods of warfare and other skills. The purpose of the sixth incarnation of Vishnu was to relieve the earth's burden by exterminating the sinful, destructive and anti-vedic monarchs that pillaged its resources, and neglected their duties as kings. Parashurama is of a martial Shraman ascetic. However, unlike all other Vishnu-avatars , Parashurama still lives on earth, even today. Devotees gratefully remember on this day , His infinite mercy . The present land of Kerala had been submerged by see long back . Responding to the pleas of Rishis , Parashurama recovered the land with great effort . In the beginning the Sea God (Varuna-deva) refused the request , but when Parashurama aimed "Agneyastra" at him , Varuna became scared and relented . As agreed , Parashurama flung His weapon "Parashu" in to the ocean and Varuna withdrew up to the point where the weapon landed . It is due to this divine agreement that , the land of Kerala ( Parashurama-kshetram) most of which is at sea level , still safely co-exist with the all destructive ocean . Great Effort After recovering the land of Kerala, Bhagavan Parashurama transformed it to an ideal Vedic nation popularly known as "God's own country" . With the help of serpent-God Vasuki , Parashurama removed the salty nature of land and made it fertile . Later He performed the following deeds : Establishing , Vedic temples at key locations . ( Sabarimala , Sucheendram , Mannarassala, etc) . It was Parashuma who brought Brihaspathi and Vayu deva, to Guruvayoor to establish the temple there ) . Training and initiating Vedic Brahmanas ( Namboodiris) to learn , practice and teach the Vedas . Establishing skilled physicians (Ashtavaidyas) , Mantriks ( Kattumadam , etc) , to attend to the needs of people . He also initiated skilled warriors teaching them the martial art "Kalaripayattu" as a means for self protection. Parashurama's status today A temple of Parshuram is situated at Thiruvallam near Trivandrum . This temple is famous for the "Sradha" ( post-death rituals) for ancestors . Unlike other temples, the Sradha rituals is a daily routine in Thiruvallam temple . One can all the "Sradha dues" to all his ancestors by conducting a one-off ritual in this temple . The following is a sloka (hymn) is in praise of Parasurama : Devam naumi ramapathim ranapatum baswath kireedanchitham, Kodandam sasaram karena dadhtatham vamena chanyena cha, Aartha thrana patum kutaramasatham kandacchidam bhasuram, Smasru prasphurithananam surathanum ramam sada saswatham. ( I salute that immortal Parashurama, who is worshiped by the Devas, Who is the consort of Lakshmi, who is an expert in war, Who has a shining crown, Who holds a bow in His right hand and a white axe in His left Which protects the oppressed and destroys the bad, Who has a great shine on His face and is praised by the Devas. ) Once again , we prostrate at the lotus feet of Bhagavan Parashurama . Om Namo Narayanaya !!! Krishnadaya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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