Slokam 4

As happens in the lives of Sri Rama and Sri Krishna, and all the avatars of the Paramathma,  every moment of their lives is one of sacrifice and overcoming of challenges for the protection and well being  of humanity.

On the way back from Mithila,  Sri Rama is attacked by the demonic Parasurama,  who has vowed to kill all kshatriyas to avenge his father’s death.

Parasurama is the embodiment of blind revenge.

Extract from Wikipedia

Parashurama was born to the Brahmin sage Jamadagni and his Kshatriya wife Renuka, living in a hut.^[4] His birthplace is believed to be on top of the Janapav hills in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.^[5][6] On top of the hills is a Shiva temple where Parshurama is believed to have worshipped Lord Shiva, the ashram (abbey) is known as Jamadagni Ashram, named after his father. The place also has a kund (pond) that is being developed by the state government.^[7] They had a celestial cow called Surabhi which gives all they desire ( cow kamadhenu's daughter).^[2][8] A king named Kartavirya Arjuna (not to be confused with Arjuna the Pandava)^{[9][note 1]} – learns about it and wants it. He asks Jamadagni to give it to him, but the sage refuses. While Parashurama is away from the hut, the king takes it by force.^[2] Parashurama learns about this crime, and is upset. With his axe in his hand, he challenges the king to battle. They fight, and Parushama kills the king, according to the Hindu history.^[3] The warrior class challenges him, and he kills all his challengers. The legend likely has roots in the ancient conflict between the Brahmin varna, with knowledge duties, and the Kshatriya varna, with warrior and enforcement roles.^[2][1][10]

In some versions of the legend, after his martial exploits, Parashurama returns to his sage father with the Surabhi cow and tells him about the battles he had to fight. The sage does not congratulate Parashurama, but reprimands him stating that a Brahmin should never kill a king. He asks him to expiate his sin by going on pilgrimage. After Parashurama returns from pilgrimage, he is told that while he was away, his father was killed by warriors seeking revenge. Parashurama again picks up his axe and kills many warriors in retaliation. In the end, he relinquishes his weapons and takes up Yoga.

Parashurama (Sanskrit: परशुराम, IAST: Paraśurāma, lit. Rama with an axe) is the sixth avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism and he is one of the chiranjeevis who will appear at the end of the Kali yuga to be the guru of Vishnu's tenth and last avatar Kalki . He carried a number of traits, which included aggression, warfare and valor; also, serenity, prudence and patience. Like other incarnations of Vishnu, he was foretold to appear at a time when overwhelming evil prevailed on the earth.The Kshatriya class, with weapons and power, had begun to abuse their power, take what belonged to others by force and tyrannize people. Parashurama corrects the cosmic equilibrium by destroying these Kshatriya warriors. Parashurama is also the Guru of Bhishma, Dronacharya, and Karna.^[1][2]

Sri Rama is the seventh avatar of Maha Vishnu.  As in the Avatars of Hayagriva and Matsya,  the two Avatars of Maha Vishnu are in conflict and engage in battle.

Parasurama,  defeated by Sri Rama, confers all His powers on Him and retreats to a life of sagacity.

Parasurama legends are notable for their discussion of violence, the cycles of retaliations, the impulse of krodha (anger), the inappropriateness of krodha, and repentance.^{[11][note 2]}

The Paramathma always takes avatarams to restore balance.  The Paramathma’s avatars have been taken to support dharma.  However,  he did take the avatars of Hayagriva and Paramsurama to seemingly cause disruption. But all seeming disruptions are only ways and means to strengthen the path of dharma and destroy the path of adharma.

The Slokam outlines on what was probably the only peaceful phase of life for Sri Rama.  He returns to Ayodhya and lives happily with His wife for “some time”.  Since the chronological time is not comparable between the yugas,  we, living in the Kaliyugam cannot understand the phrase “some time”.  Our time durations in the Kaliyugam are much much shorter than in the Tretha Yugam.

King Dasharatha wants to perform the coronation of Sri Rama as his successor to the throne of Ayodhya.  Bharatha and Shatrugna retreat to their maternal uncle’s place.

The slokam very briefly describes how Kaikeyi thwarted the move to Coronate Sri Rama as king of Ayodhya,  and how Sri Rama was exiled to the forest. 

Some of the conflicts and confrontations that Sri Rama was subjected to were horrendous.   He absorbs them all with equanimity that only the Paramathma can be endowed with.  He does not express sorrow or anger through any of the travails that He is subjected to.  He simply performs His assigned duty to the best of His capability.  Life was not kind to Him. In fact He led a life full of setbacks at every moment. A mere mortal would have been swept away by even one of these.  Not so Sri Rama.  He withstands every one of them without ever shirking His assigned duties.  How long would it have taken for Him to decide to live the life of an ascetic, in any part of this world?  He had the powers to protect Sita,  with Lakshmana always by His side.  He had the power to singlehandedly destroy entire armies by Himself. He had no personal desires or ambitions. He had no need for wealth or for riches.  He had not committed any adharmic acts in His life, and did not have to face any consequences of bad karma. 

Yet He did not withdraw.  He did His duties as required.  Never indicated His displeasure to Kaikeyi, and not even to Ravanna. 

He was there at the front line of every battle, unlike todays “leaders”,  who send 20 year olds to fight the battles while they stay under layers and layers of protection.

Little or nothing can be said negatively about Sri Rama.  Yet our suspicion and doubt ridden minds  disbelieve the goodness and concentrates on  the one or two aspects which it perceives as negative. This attribute of the minds in putting down others is a fundamental flaw in our character.  Sri Rama did not have an iota or trace of this weakness in His pure Character.  He never decried or put down another individual.  He dedicated His entire life to the welfare of all those around Him,  including those like Ravanna that caused Him terrible pain and suffering.

May we always hold in our consciousness the various avatars of the Paramathma and contemplate on the stupendous effort that He has channeled into maintaining the balance of life.