Esoteric meaning of the Legend of Parasurama

One of the most discussed as well as misunderstood legend is that of Parasurama. I have come across many sites and literature which portray Parasu-Rama as a mass murderer inorder to besmear the Hindu religion. The Vedas and the Puranas are the source of knowledge. They never promote or say anything that is anti-social in nature. The verses are coded and contain the essence of Brahma-Vidhya; the knowledge required to reach the Supreme Being. They are coded so that only the worthy and those who have a thirst to learn the true knowledge can decode them. Hence the verses have a superficial literal meaning as well as a deeper esoteric meaning. The key to decode the meaning of the legend of Parasurama is as shown below.

We must first examine the lineage of Parasurama. He belongs to lineage of the Brighu Maharishis who are associated with Agni (fire). The Supreme-Self in our heart is also known as Agni. The Agni, who resides in the womb of our heart is Paramatma the Supreme-Self. The Brighu Maharishis are “knowers”, those who have realized the Supreme-Self in their hearts.

The father of Parasurama is called as Jamadagni. The name can be split into Jamat Agni which means the one who contains Agni. In this case it refers to Jamadagni as a knower seeking the Supeme-Self. Jamadagni’s wife is Renuka. It is said that she helps him when he practices shooting with arrow by fetching the arrow shot from his bow. Renuka represents Lady Faith who is always portrayed as the wife of the knower. It is only with the help of faith can one realize the Supreme-Being. Jamadagni with the help of his wife Renuka, who is lady faith, shoots the arrow toward Paramatma; the arrow is himself which is aimed towards the highest goal of attaining union with the Supreme-Self. Such a knower who has faith for his wife gets the Supreme Being as his son. This is indicated by Parasurama being the incarnation of Lord Vishnu who is the Supreme Being.

 Matricide:

Once on her way to the river Renuka saw a handsome prince wearing lotus garlands sporting with his wives. Her heart was filled with desire. Upon her return Jamadagni came to know about her thoughts and ordered his sons to kill her. Jamadagni’s first 4 sons refused to kill her but Parasurama immediately followed his father’s decree. The pleased father requests Parasurama to seek a boon from him and immediately Parasurama wished for his mother to become alive. Jamadagni granted his wish and Renuka became alive. This story shows the immortal nature of Lady Faith. She saw the Supreme-Being in the form of the man with the lotus garland. She realized the Supreme-Being. Her being killed by Parasurama who is the Supreme-Being can be explained as her merging in the Supreme-Fire. Anyone who attains the Supreme-Being is unharmed and becomes immortal. This is represented when she comes back alive.

Mass Murder:

Once, King Kartavirya Arjuna paid a visit to Jamadagni’s ashram. There he saw a beautiful cow. Wishing to have that cow for himself, he kills Jamadagni and steals the cow. Parasurama comes to know about this heinous crime. He seeks revenge and annihilates Kartavirya Arjuna along with all the Kshatriyas who supported Kartavirya Arjuna. Parasurama then filled five lakes with their blood and offered their blood as offerings to his departed ancestors. The literal meaning is that of a man seeking vendetta. He took it upon himself to rid this Earth of corrupt rulers. The esoteric meaning reveals the actual essence of this legend.

The name Arjuna means white and can be said to represent the moon. The moon is called as Soma in Sanskrit. Soma exists in three forms which are; as the moon in the sky, as the Soma creeper, and as the king of forests (Vanaspathi) as wood.

During the Soma Sacrifice, when the Soma is made ready and brought to the sacrificial altar, the churned Agni is offered into the altar as sacrifice in honour of Soma. Jamadagni represents churned Agni. We have seen that Jamadagni means the one who contains fire. Fire is churned from wood called arani during sacrifices. Since fire is obtained from wood by producing friction, it is seen as a violent act and is indicated by Kartavirya Arjuna killing Jamadagni. Kartavirya Arjuna is Soma and he visits Jamadagni’s ashram and hence is the guest Soma brought for the sacrifice. The churned Agni is offered into the sacrificial fire and is shown by the death of Jamadagni. We have also seen that Soma is also present in wood as Vanaspathi. Hence the fire churned from wood can be said to be the son of Soma. The son of Soma represents the soul. By offering the soul in the blazing fire of knowledge, Kartavirya Arjuna is able to take the knowledge to reach the Supreme-Self in the form of cow. He is now pursued by the Supreme Brahman and is killed by the Supreme Brahman. Kartavirya Arjuna is the moon and the other Kshatriyas who accompany him are the stars. Parasurama is the Sun. Sun light can be fancied to kill the moon and the stars with its brightness. Alternatively, the Sun can be said to drink the light of the moon. The Soma juice has thousands of drops which are represented as the stars. The Sun drinking the light of the moon and the star can be said as drinking the Soma-juice. In other words this is the story in which the Moon is shown to sacrifice himself to reach the Supreme Brahman. During new Moon day, the moon is fancied as giving up his body to reach the Supreme Sun.

Parasurama is now said to have filled the five lakes with the Kshatriya blood and that he offered their blood as oblation to the departed ancestors. As we have seen that this is Soma-sacrifice and not a blood sacrifice, the five lakes are filled with Soma juice and not blood. The ancestors of Parasurama are the Brighu Maharishis who are eligible to drink the Soma juice. To give us a key that the lake was filled with only Soma juice Parasurama is shown to make an offering to his departed ancestors.

The filling of five lakes with soma juice by Parasurama, represent the real joy experienced by the five senses when we realize the Supreme-Being.