According to Hindu philosophy every time there is a misbalance on planet earth and the negative energy overpowers, Lord Vishnu descends as a human avatar to fight against evil and restore the balance again. An avatar is a highly gifted and charismatic human being who seems to be from the future as he is endowed with special powers that normal humans do not have. His mind works at its full potential unlike other humans hence empowering him with supernatural powers. It is mentioned in our Hindu texts that time and again Lord Vishnu has incarnated on earth whenever there is a great decline in the human condition. Our scriptures mention 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu who either have or will descend on Earth to provide ideological guidance to mankind and help them sail through the period of unrest and transition.
In this article, we will discuss in length about Lord Parashurama who is believed to be the 6th avatar of Lord Vishnu.
Parashurama was born to sage Jamadagni and Renuka. He was born in the hills of Janapav (in Indore M.P). They lived in a hut. His father being one of the greatest sage was gifted with a wish granting cow named Surabhi. Everything was good until one day a cruel king named Arjuna ( not to be confused with Mahabharata's Arjuna) got to know about the holy cow. One day when Parshurama was not in the house, the king barged into their home and forcefully took the cow with him. When Parshurama got to know about the same he went onto fight the king and happened to kill him during the fight. This enraged the warrior clan and now they all of them wanted to kill Parashurama.
Now, this was the time when the warrior or the Kshatriya clan had started misusing their powers as they wanted to rule the world. They tortured helpless people and made everyone serve them. Parashurama being the enlightened warrior was born with the sole purpose of ending their tyranny. He killed the entire warrior race one by one. By destroying the cruel kshatriya warriors he restored the cosmic balance once again. Lord Parashurama has been mentioned in both Ramayana and Mahabharata.
In Ramayana, he comes to test Rama's integrity and morals when Lord Rama participates in Sita's swayambar. When Parshurama is convinced that Rama is not like the other cruel kings he lets him go.
In Mahabharata, he is shown as a guide or teacher to Bhishmapitama and Karna. He is the one who teaches them how to fight battles. Lord Parashurama as a Vishnu avatar coexisted with the other avatars as Rama and Krishna.
He is also considered to be one of the immortals gods who will stay on earth till the end of Kaliyuga and will appear again in the times of distress and need with other Chiranjeevi avatars like Hanuman.
Now the question is that will this be a person who will come to save mankind or a mass awakening in humankind in the form of a rise in their consciousness? Will, there be a savior to save us or we shall become the saviors ourselves...
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