KrishnaUnlimited
Krishna Unlimited
United States
suresh
Slokam 11
Parasurama, having accomplished his task of destroying the dominance of kshatriyas is subdued in a confrontation with Sri Rama. Parasurama presents his axe to Sri Rama in acknowledgement of His infinite strength, valor and surrenders all his weapons at His feet. Parasurama then retreats to the Mahendra mountains.
Extract from Wikipedia
Mahendra Mountains is a mountain range described in the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. It is identified to be the part of the mountain ranges in the east coast of India (Eastern Ghats), that falls in Odisha. It is the place where Bhargava Rama or Parashurama spending his days of life, as he is one of the chiranjeevi or having life up to pralaya. This place was visited by Arjuna as part of his pilgrimage.
It is said in the slokam that the land up to Gokarna became submerged under the sea.
Extract from Wikipedia
Gokarna is situated in Karnataka. The sea seems to have submerged the entire southern part of India.
Gokarna means cow's ear. It is believed that Lord Shiva emerged from the ear of a cow (Prithvi, the Mother Earth) here. It is at the ear-shaped confluence of two rivers Gangavali and Aghanashini.
Gokarna is mentioned in the Shrimad Bhagavata Purana as being the home of the brothers Gokarna and Dhundhakari.
In order that Brahma who out of arrogance arising out of his power to create the universe, sat penancing to redeem himself from curse of Shiva, Lord Shiva appeared in front of him from the ears of a cow. So the place came to be known as Gokarna or ear of the cow. Hindu Puranas says that when Lord Parashurama, the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu created Kerala, it was from Gokarna to Kanyakumari.
As per legend, Ravana was given Atmalinga by Lord Shiva and instructed that it would stay permanently where it is first placed on the land. But Lord Ganesha came in the form of a boy and planted it in Gokarna while Ravana was performing rituals. Once placed Ravana could not remove it from the ground, but he removed some pieces of the Linga and threw them in different directions.[3][4]
Parasurama is said to create a bow out of His meditative power. This is a key pointer to not only the power of meditation, but also that the events of our lives are born only out of the state of our minds.
The physical realm is the interplay of the forces of the mind. Once those forces are brought under control the physical world will not impact our everyday lives. This is why meditation or tapas was the first instruction that the Paramathma gave to Brahma. Tapas on the Paramathma alone aligns the path to moksham.
Parasurama is said to string the bow and with the fire missile Agneyastra mounted on it, threatens to dry up the sea that covers all the land upto Gokarna. This statement provides a key to unlock our understanding of the elevated level of Parasurama’s tapas andexistence. He is in union with the forces of nature, through His tapas.
Although it may be symbolic to depict the creation of the bow with the agniyastra mounted on it, the implication is that Parasurama is in union with nature and has the capability to control the massive movements of the sea. This gives an indication as to how He was able to singlehandedly destroy the kshatriya community. It took Sri Rama to finally subdue the wrath of Parasurama and stop the decimation of the kshatriyas.
The sea recedes to its designated area. The power of tapas possessed by brahmins is indeed extraordinary and has no equal in terms of influencing the events on this planet, except that of the Paramathma Himself and His manifestations.
Guruvayur, the southern abode of Krishna Paramatha, is situated in the state of Kerala. As Parasurama watches the sea recede, and expose the land constituting the southern part of Bharathvarsha, He throws his spoon, called Sruva, used in sacrifices (to offer oblations), to specifically demarcate the boundary of Kerala from the reclaimed land.
Even today that land demarcated as Kerala, remains lush and green with an abundance of agricultural resources.
The casting of the spoon of the yagam to demarcate the boundary of Kerala clearly demonstrates the link between creation of physical objects and the power of tapas. Physical objects are only a manifestation of the power of tapas of the sages.
Tapas is the state that we have to attain in order to sustain peace in our lives. It is the most powerful of all tools available with us, to keep the mind in check from wandering and also to channel conscious energy into a state of peace and eternity.
May we ever remain committed to maintaining peace within by continual tapas on all the aspects of the Paramathma.
Copyright 2012 Krishna Unlimited. All rights reserved.
Krishna Unlimited
United States
suresh