CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Lord Parasurama Destroys
the World’s Ruling Class

When Jamadagni was killed by the sons of Kartaviryarjuna, as described
in this chapter, Parasurama rid the entire world of ksatriyas twenty-one
times. This chapter also describes the descendants of Visvamitra.

When Jamadagni’s wife, Renuka, went to bring water from the
Ganges and saw the King of the Gandharvas enjoying the company of
Apsaras, she was captivated, and she slightly desired to associate with
him. Because of this sinful desire, she was punished by her husband.
Parasurama killed his mother and brothers, but later, by dint of
the austerities of Jamadagni, they were revived. The sons of Karta-
viryarjuna, however, remembering the death of their father, wanted to
take revenge against Lord Parasurdma, and therefore when Parasurama
was absent from the dsrama, they killed Jamadagni, who was meditating
on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When Parasurama returned to
the Gsrama and saw his father killed, he was very sorry, and after asking
his brothers to take care of the dead body, he went out with determina-
tion to kill all the Asatriyas on the surface of the world. Taking up his
axe, he went to Mahismati-pura, the capital of Kartaviryarjuna, and
killed all of Kartaviryarjuna’s sons, whose blood became a great river.
Parasurama, however, was not satisfied with killing only the sons of
Kartaviryarjuna; later, when the ksatriyas became disturbing, he killed
them twenty-one times, so that there were no ksatriyas on the surface of
the earth. Thereafter, ParaSurama joined the head of his father to the
dead body and performed various sacrifices to please the Supreme Lord.
Thus Jamadagni got life again in his body, and later he was promoted to
the higher planetary system known as Saptarsi-mandala. Parasurama,
the son of Jamadagni, still lives in Mahendra-parvata. In the next
manvantara, he will become a preacher of Vedic knowledge.

In the dynasty of Gadhi, the most powerful Visvamitra took birth. By
dint of his austerity and penance, he became a brahmana. He had 101

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