Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: My dear Mahārāja Parīkshit, son of the Kuru dynasty, when Lord Paraśurāma was given this order by his father, he immediately agreed, saying, “Let it be so.” For one complete year he traveled to holy places. Then he returned to his father’s residence.
Once when Renukā, the wife of Jamadagni, went to the bank of the Ganges to get water, she saw the King of the Gandharvas, decorated with a garland of lotuses and sporting in the Ganges with celestial women [Apsarās].
She had gone to bring water from the Ganges, but when she saw Citraratha, the King of the Gandharvas, sporting with the celestial girls, she was somewhat inclined toward him and failed to remember that the time for the fire sacrifice was passing.
Later, understanding that the time for offering the sacrifice had passed, Renukā feared a curse from her husband. Therefore when she returned she simply put the waterpot before him and stood there with folded hands.
The great sage Jamadagni understood the adultery in the mind of his wife. Therefore he was very angry and told his sons, “My dear sons, kill this sinful woman!” But the sons did not carry out his order.
Jamadagni then ordered his youngest son, Paraśurāma, to kill his brothers, who had disobeyed this order, and his mother, who had mentally committed adultery. Lord Paraśurāma, knowing the power of his father, who was practiced in meditation and austerity, killed his mother and brothers immediately.
The word prabhāva-jñah is significant. Paraśurāma knew the prowess of his father, and therefore he agreed to carry out his father’s order. He thought that if he refused to carry out the order he would be cursed, but if he carried it out his father would be pleased, and when his father was pleased, Paraśurāma would ask the benediction of having his mother and brothers brought back to life. Paraśurāma was confident in this regard, and therefore he agreed to kill his mother and brothers.
Jamadagni, the son of Satyavatī, was very much pleased with Paraśurāma and asked him to take any benediction he liked. Lord Paraśurāma replied, “Let my mother and brothers live again and not remember having been killed by me. This is the benediction I ask.”
Thereafter, by the benediction of Jamadagni, Lord Paraśurāma’s mother and brothers immediately came alive and were very happy, as if awakened from sound sleep. Lord Paraśurāma had killed his relatives in accordance with his father’s order because he was fully aware of his father’s power, austerity and learning.
My dear King Parīkshit, the sons of Kārtavīryārjuna, who were defeated by the superior strength of Paraśurāma, never achieved happiness, for they always remembered the killing of their father.
Jamadagni was certainly very powerful due to his austerities, but because of a slight offense by his poor wife, Renukā, he ordered that she be killed. This certainly was a sinful act, and therefore Jamadagni was killed by the sons of Kārtavīryārjuna, as described herein. Lord Paraśurāma was also infected by sin because of killing Kārtavīryārjuna, although this was not very offensive. Therefore, whether one be Kārtavīryārjuna, Lord Paraśurāma, Jamadagni or whoever one may be, one must act very cautiously and sagaciously; otherwise one must suffer the results of sinful activities. This is the lesson we receive from Vedic literature.
Once when Paraśurāma left the āśrama for the forest with Vasumān and his other brothers, the sons of Kārtavīryārjuna took the opportunity to approach Jamadagni’s residence to seek vengeance for their grudge.
The sons of Kārtavīryārjuna were determined to commit sinful deeds. Therefore when they saw Jamadagni sitting by the side of the fire to perform yajña and meditating upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is praised by the best of selected prayers, they took the opportunity to kill him.
With pitiable prayers, Renukā, the mother of Paraśurāma and wife of Jamadagni, begged for the life of her husband. But the sons of Kārtavīryārjuna, being devoid of the qualities of kshatriyas, were so cruel that despite her prayers they forcibly cut off his head and took it away.
Lamenting in grief for the death of her husband, the most chaste Renukā struck her own body with her hands and cried very loudly, “O Rāma, my dear son Rāma!”
Although the sons of Jamadagni, including Lord Paraśurāma, were a long distance from home, as soon as they heard Renukā loudly calling “O Rāma, O my son,” they hastily returned to the āśrama, where they saw their father already killed.
Virtually bewildered by grief, anger, indignation, affliction and lamentation, the sons of Jamadagni cried, “O father, most religious, saintly person, you have left us and gone to the heavenly planets!”
Thus lamenting, Lord Paraśurāma entrusted his father’s dead body to his brothers and personally took up his axe, having decided to put an end to all the kshatriyas on the surface of the world.
O King, Lord Paraśurāma then went to Māhishmatī, which was already doomed by the sinful killing of a brāhmana. In the midst of that city he made a mountain of heads, severed from the bodies of the sons of Kārtavīryārjuna.
With the blood of the bodies of these sons, Lord Paraśurāma created a ghastly river, which brought great fear to the kings who had no respect for brahminical culture. Because the kshatriyas, the men of power in government, were performing sinful activities, Lord Paraśurāma, on the plea of retaliating for the murder of his father, rid all the kshatriyas from the face of the earth twenty-one times. Indeed, in the place known as Samanta-pañcaka he created nine lakes filled with their blood.
Paraśurāma is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and his eternal mission is paritrānāya sādhūnām vināśāya ca dushkritām — to protect the devotees and annihilate the miscreants. To kill all the sinful men is one among the tasks of the incarnation of Godhead. Lord Paraśurāma killed all the kshatriyas twenty-one times consecutively because they were disobedient to the brahminical culture. That the kshatriyas had killed his father was only a plea; the real fact is that because the kshatriyas, the ruling class, had become polluted, their position was inauspicious. Brahminical culture is enjoined in the śāstra, especially in Bhagavad-gītā (cātur-varnyam mayā srishtam guna-karma-vibhāgaśah). According to the laws of nature, whether at the time of Paraśurāma or at the present, if the government becomes irresponsible and sinful, not caring for brahminical culture, there will certainly be an incarnation of God like Paraśurāma to create a devastation by fire, famine, pestilence or some other calamity. Whenever the government disrespects the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead and fails to protect the institution of varnāśrama-dharma, it will certainly have to face such catastrophes as formerly brought about by Lord Paraśurāma.
Thereafter, Paraśurāma joined his father’s head to the dead body and placed the whole body and head upon kuśa grass. By offering sacrifices, he began to worship Lord Vāsudeva, who is the all-pervading Supersoul of all the demigods and of every living entity.
After completing the sacrifice, Lord Paraśurāma gave the eastern direction to the hotā as a gift, the south to the brahmā, the west to the adhvaryu, the north to the udgātā, and the four corners — northeast, southeast, northwest and southwest — to the other priests. He gave the middle to Kaśyapa and the place known as Āryāvarta to the upadrashtā. Whatever remained he distributed among the sadasyas, the associate priests.
The tract of land in India between the Himālaya Mountains and the Vindhya Hills is called Āryāvarta.
Thereafter, having completed the ritualistic sacrificial ceremonies, Lord Paraśurāma took the bath known as the avabhritha-snāna. Standing on the bank of the great river Sarasvatī, cleared of all sins, Lord Paraśurāma appeared like the sun in a clear, cloudless sky.
As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (3.9), yajñārthāt karmano ’nyatra loko ’yam karma-bandhanah: “Work done as a sacrifice for Vishnu has to be performed; otherwise work binds one to this material world.” Karma-bandhanah refers to the repeated acceptance of one material body after another. The whole problem of life is this repetition of birth and death. Therefore one is advised to work to perform yajña meant for satisfying Lord Vishnu. Although Lord Paraśurāma was an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he had to account for sinful activities. Anyone in this material world, however careful he may be, must commit some sinful activities, even though he does not want to. For example, one may trample many small ants and other insects while walking on the street and kill many living beings unknowingly. Therefore the Vedic principle of pañca-yajña, five kinds of recommended sacrifice, is compulsory. In this Age of Kali, however, there is a great concession given to people in general. Yajñaih sankīrtana-prāyair yajanti hi sumedhasah: we may worship Lord Caitanya, the hidden incarnation of Krishna. Krishna-varnam tvishākrishnam: although He is Krishna Himself, He always chants Hare Krishna and preaches Krishna consciousness. One is recommended to worship this incarnation by chanting, the sankīrtana-yajña. The performance of sankīrtana-yajña is a special concession for human society to save people from being affected by known or unknown sinful activities. We are surrounded by unlimited sins, and therefore it is compulsory that one take to Krishna consciousness and chant the Hare Krishna mahā-mantra.
Thus Jamadagni, being worshiped by Lord Paraśurāma, was brought back to life with full remembrance, and he became one of the seven sages in the group of seven stars.
The seven stars revolving around the polestar at the zenith are called saptarshi-mandala. On these seven stars, which form the topmost part of our planetary system, reside seven sages: Kaśyapa, Atri, Vasishtha, Viśvāmitra, Gautama, Jamadagni and Bharadvāja. These seven stars are seen every night, and they each make a complete orbit around the polestar within twenty-four hours. Along with these seven stars, all the others stars also orbit from east to west. The upper portion of the universe is called the north, and the lower portion is called the south. Even in our ordinary dealings, while studying a map, we regard the upper portion of the map as north.
My dear King Parīkshit, in the next manvantara the lotus-eyed Personality of Godhead Lord Paraśurāma, the son of Jamadagni, will be a great propounder of Vedic knowledge. In other words, he will be one of the seven sages.
Lord Paraśurāma still lives as an intelligent brāhmana in the mountainous country known as Mahendra. Completely satisfied, having given up all the weapons of a kshatriya, he is always worshiped, adored and offered prayers for his exalted character and activities by such celestial beings as the Siddhas, Cāranas and Gandharvas.
In this way the supreme soul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord and the supreme controller, descended as an incarnation in the Bhrigu dynasty and released the universe from the burden of undesirable kings by killing them many times.
Viśvāmitra, the son of Mahārāja Gādhi, was as powerful as the flames of fire. From the position of a kshatriya, he achieved the position of a powerful brāhmana by undergoing penances and austerities.
Now, having narrated the history of Lord Paraśurāma, Śukadeva Gosvāmī begins the history of Viśvāmitra. From the history of Paraśurāma we can understand that although Paraśurāma belonged to the brahminical group, he circumstantially had to work as a kshatriya. Later, after finishing his work as a kshatriya, he again became a brāhmana and returned to Mahendra-parvata. Similarly, we can see that although Viśvāmitra was born in a kshatriya family, by austerities and penances he achieved the position of a brāhmana. These histories confirm the statements in śāstra that a brāhmana may become a kshatriya, a kshatriya may become a brāhmana or vaiśya, and a vaiśya may become a brāhmana, by achieving the required qualities. One’s status does not depend upon birth. As confirmed in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (7.11.35) by Nārada:
“If one shows the symptoms of being a brāhmana, kshatriya, vaiśya or śūdra, even if he has appeared in a different class, he should be accepted according to those symptoms of classification.” To know who is a brāhmana and who is a kshatriya, one must consider a man’s quality and work. If all the unqualified śūdras become so-called brāhmanas and kshatriyas, social order will be impossible to maintain. Thus there will be discrepancies, human society will turn into a society of animals, and the situation all over the world will be hellish.
O King Parīkshit, Viśvāmitra had 101 sons, of whom the middle one was known as Madhucchandā. In relation to him, all the other sons were celebrated as the Madhucchandās.
In this connection, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura quotes this statement from the Vedas: tasya ha viśvāmitrasyaika-śatam putrā āsuh pañcāśad eva jyāyāmso madhucchandasah pañcāśat kanīyāmsah. “Viśvāmitra had 101 sons. Fifty were older than Madhucchandā and fifty younger.”
Viśvāmitra accepted the son of Ajīgarta known as Śunahśepha, who was born in the Bhrigu dynasty and was also known as Devarāta, as one of his own sons. Viśvāmitra ordered his other sons to accept Śunahśepha as their eldest brother.
Śunahśepha’s father sold Śunahśepha to be sacrificed as a man-animal in the yajña of King Hariścandra. When Śunahśepha was brought into the sacrificial arena, he prayed to the demigods for release and was released by their mercy.
Here is a description of Śunahśepha. When Hariścandra was to sacrifice his son Rohita, Rohita arranged to save his own life by purchasing Śunahśepha from Śunahśepha’s father to be sacrificed in the yajña. Śunahśepha was sold to Mahārāja Hariścandra because he was the middle son, between the oldest and the youngest. It appears that the sacrifice of a man as an animal in yajña has been practiced for a very long time.
Although Śunahśepha was born in the Bhārgava dynasty, he was greatly advanced in spiritual life, and therefore the demigods involved in the sacrifice protected him. Consequently he was also celebrated as the descendant of Gādhi named Devarāta.
When requested by their father to accept Śunahśepha as the eldest son, the elder fifty of the Madhucchandās, the sons of Viśvāmitra, did not agree. Therefore Viśvāmitra, being angry, cursed them. “May all of you bad sons become mlecchas,” he said, “being opposed to the principles of Vedic culture.”
In Vedic literature there are names like mleccha and yavana. The mlecchas are understood to be those who do not follow the Vedic principles. In former days, the mlecchas were fewer, and Viśvāmitra Muni cursed his sons to become mlecchas. But in the present age, Kali-yuga, there is no need of cursing, for people are automatically mlecchas. This is only the beginning of Kali-yuga, but at the end of Kali-yuga the entire population will consist of mlecchas because no one will follow the Vedic principles. At that time the incarnation Kalki will appear. Mleccha-nivaha-nidhane kalayasi karavālam. He will kill all the mlecchas indiscriminately with his sword.
When the elder Madhucchandās were cursed, the younger fifty, along with Madhucchandā himself, approached their father and agreed to accept his proposal. “Dear father,” they said, “we shall abide by whatever arrangement you like.”
Thus the younger Madhucchandās accepted Śunahśepha as their eldest brother and told him, “We shall follow your orders.” Viśvāmitra then said to his obedient sons, “Because you have accepted Śunahśepha as your eldest brother, I am very satisfied. By accepting my order, you have made me a father of worthy sons, and therefore I bless all of you to become the fathers of sons also.”
Of the one hundred sons, half disobeyed Viśvāmitra by not accepting Śunahśepha as their eldest brother, but the other half accepted his order. Therefore the father blessed the obedient sons to become the fathers of sons. Otherwise they too would have been cursed to be sonless mlecchas.
Viśvāmitra said, “O Kuśikas [descendants of Kauśika], this Devarāta is my son and is one of you. Please obey his orders.” O King Parīkshit, Viśvāmitra had many other sons, such as Ashtaka, Hārīta, Jaya and Kratumān.
Viśvāmitra cursed some of his sons and blessed the others, and he also adopted a son. Thus there were varieties in the Kauśika dynasty, but among all the sons, Devarāta was considered the eldest.