त्रेताद्वापरयोः संधौ रामः शस्त्रभृतां वरः ।
असकृत् पार्थिवं क्षत्रं जघानामर्षचोदितः ॥
स सर्वं क्षत्रम् उत्साद्य स्ववीर्येणानलद्युतिः ।
समन्तपञ्चके पञ्च चकार रुधिरह्रदान् ॥
स तेषु रुधिराम्भस्सु ह्रदेषु क्रोधमूर्च्छितः ।
पितॄन् संतर्पयाम् आस रुधिरेणेति नः श्रुतम् ॥
tretādvāparayoḥ saṃdhau rāmaḥ śastrabhṛtāṃ varaḥ |
asakṛt pārthivaṃ kṣatraṃ jaghānāmarṣacoditaḥ ||
sa sarvaṃ kṣatram utsādya svavīryeṇānaladyutiḥ |
samantapañcake pañca cakāra rudhirahradān ||
sa teṣu rudhirāmbhassu hradeṣu krodhamūrcchitaḥ |
pitṝn saṃtarpayām āsa rudhireṇeti naḥ śrutam ||
At the junction of the Treta and Dvapara ages, Rama (Parashurama), best of those who bear weapons, driven by indignation, repeatedly destroyed the royal order of kshatriyas. Having exterminated the entire kshatriya class by his own valor, blazing like fire, he made in Samantapanchaka five lakes of blood. And in those lakes of bloody waters, in a frenzy of wrath, he, as we have heard, performed with blood the ancestral libation for his forefathers.
462c606e1abb · published Jul 12, 2026, 2:16:08 PM UTC
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Parashurama is a martial empowered incarnation (avesha-avatara) of the Lord, descended to lift from the earth the burden of impious, arrogant kshatriyas. His deed is terrible -- five lakes of blood, a bloody tarpana -- yet behind it stands a higher purpose: the restoration of dharma through the removal of rulers who trampled upon it. This foreshadows the mission of Krishna Himself, who will later lift the burden of the earth in battle on this same field. At the same time, the text does not hide the darker side -- "a frenzy of wrath" (krodha-murchita): even a fearsome act, performed in anger, is described without embellishment, and further on (verse 6) the ancestors will stop Parashurama. The lesson is twofold: the Lord removes lawlessness, but unbridled anger calls for restraint; the higher way is to act for the sake of dharma without being enslaved by passion.