Bhagwan Parshuram, a Hindu warrior-god, one of the eight immortal as per the Hindu religious traditions is presented in this Patachitra from Orissa. He is also the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, known in the mythological traditions for clearing the earth of unworthy Kshatriyas s several times and donating the hence acquired land to Brahmanas for the establishment of rta or order. He appears several times in Puranas and epics. One of these instances tells the story of why Parshuram killed his mother, Renuka, on the order of his father sage Jamdagni.
One day when Renuka went to the lake to get water for the sacrificial ceremony to be performed by her husband, she spotted a Gandharva with his partner, bathing and engrossed in romantic endeavours. Allured by the beauty of the scene, Renuka forgot the task at hand and got late in reaching home. Jamdagni was enraged by the delay caused in his rituals by the mindless, and what he perceived to be disloyal wanderings of the attention of Renuka. He ordered his sons to end the life of their mother as a punishment to her. The youngest son, Parshuram was the only one who followed his father’s orders. Raising his Parashu named Vidyudabhi, Parashuram slew his mother. The painting depicts the haloed figure of Parashuram, dressed in godly attire, holding his axe in one hand, and his bow, Vijaya in the other. Renuka’s lifeless and beheaded body lies at his feet, while Parashuram looks up at the heavens, filled with the remorse of matricide.
A proud father Jamdagni proposed to grant a boon to Parashuram, who wished for his dead mother to be brought back to life. Back to his senses and filled with guilt of ordering the murder of his virtuous life, Jamdagni was happy to oblige.
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