35 verses
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: O son of the Kuru dynasty! When Paraśurāma was given this order by his father, he immediately agreed, saying, "Let it be so." After traveling to holy places for a year, he returned to his father's residence.
Once when Reṇukā, the wife of Jamadagni, went to the bank of the Gaḍgā to get water, she saw the King of the Gandharvas, decorated with a garland of lotuses and sporting with Apsarās.
She had gone to bring water from the Gaḍgā, but while looking at the sporting, and desiring to see his colorful chariot, she completely forgot that the time for the fire sacrifice was passing.
Kiñcid modifies the verb. She completely forgot the time for sacrifice, because she desired to see the colorful chariot of the Gandharva.
Understanding that the time for offering the sacrifice had passed, Reṇukā, fearing a curse from her husband, returned, placed the water pot before him, and stood with folded hands.
She became overcome with fear, thinking, I have completely forgotten. Now the time has passed.
The great sage Jamadagni understood the she had not kept her promise. In anger he told his sons, "O sons! Kill this sinful woman!" But the sons did not carry out his order.
Understanding that she had broken her words to bring the water before the sacrifice, he became very angry because he could not complete his daily rites. O sons! Kill her. The sons however did not kill her.
Ordered by his father, Paraśurāma, who knew the power his father had attained by austerity and meditation, killed his brothers and his mother.
Ordered to kill his brothers who disobeyed their fathers order, and to kill the mother also, he killed them. But following such an order is despicable. Paraśurāma knew the power of his father. He knew the final result of killing them since he was omniscient.
Jamadagni, the son of Satyavatī, pleased with Paraśurāma, asked him to take any benediction he liked. Lord Paraśurāma replied, "Let my mother and brothers live again and not remember having been killed."
Please ask for a boon. Let those who have died life and not remember that I had killed them.
Paraśurāma's mother and brothers got up and were very happy, as if awakened from sound sleep. Paraśurāma had killed his relatives because he was fully aware of his father's power and austerity.
O King! The sons of Kārtavīryārjuna, who were defeated by the superior strength of Paraśurāma, never achieved happiness, for they remembered the killing of their father.
Since Jamadagni had ordered the death of his offenseless wife, the pinnacle of devotion to her husband, the result of his offense is now shown.
Once when Paraśurāma left the hermitage for the forest with Vasumān and his other brothers, the sons of Kārtavīryārjuna took the opportunity to approach Jamadagni's residence to seek vengeance.
When they saw Jamadagni sitting by the side of the sacrificial fire, meditating upon the Supreme Lord, who is praised by the best prayers, those most sinful sons killed him.
In misery, Reṇukā begged for the life of her husband, but the sons of Kārtavīryārjuna, being devoid of the qualities of kṣatriyas, forcibly cut off his head and took it away.
She prayed for the life of her husband.
Pained with lamentation and grief, the most chaste Reṇukā struck her body with her hands and cried very loudly, "O Rāma, dear son Rāma!"
Although the sons of Jamadagni were a long distance from home, as soon as they heard Reṇukā loudly calling "O Rāma, O my son," they hastily returned to the hermitage, and saw their dead father.
At that moment (tat), hearing the voice of their mother who was in pain (ārtavat), they hastily returned and saw their dead father.
Bewildered strongly by grief, anger, indignation, affliction and lamentation, the sons of Jamadagni cried, "O father, most religious, saintly person, you have left us and gone to Svarga!"
The brothers fainted in lamentation.
Thus lamenting, Lord Paraśurāma entrusted his father's body to his brothers, personally took up his axe, and decided to put an end to all the kṣatriyas.
O King! Paraśurāma, going to Māhiṣmatī, which was bereft of all glory by the killing of a brāhmaṇa, made a great mountain of heads of those sons of Kārtavīryārjuna in that city.
The city was bereft of glory by the killing of a brāhmaṇa. Paraśurāma made a great mountain of their heads.
triḥ-sapta-kṛtvaḥ pṛthivīṁ kṛtvā niḥkṣatriyāṁ prabhuḥ samanta-pañcake cakre śoṇitodān hradān nava
He made a terrifying river of their blood, causing fear in those who disrespect brāhmaṇas. Making the kṣatriyas responsible for killing his father, since they had acted wrongfully, twenty-one times he made the earth devoid of kṣatriyas and made nine lakes of their blood at Samanta-pañcaka.
Making the killing of his father the cause, twenty-one times he rid the earth of kṣatriyas, since they were acting sinfully (amaḍgala-karini). This means they wrongfully made his mother Reṇukā beat her chest in lamentation.
Thereafter, Paraśurāma, joining his father's head to the dead body, placed the whole body and head upon kuśa grass. By sacrifices, he worshipped Vāsudeva, the soul of every living entity and the composite of all devatās.
anyebhyo 'vāntara-diśaḥ kaśyapāya ca madhyataḥ āryāvartam upadraṣṭre sadasyebhyas tataḥ param
Paraśurāma gave the east to the hotā, the south to the brahmā, the west to the adhvaryu, the north to the udgātā, and the four cornersnortheast, southeast, northwest and southwestto the other priests. He gave the middle to Kaśyapa and the place known as Āryāvarta to the upadraṣṭā. Whatever remained he distributed among the attendant priests.
Thereafter, Paraśurāma, by whom unlimited sins were destroyed in the Sarasvatī River by taking his avabhṛtha-snāna there, shone like the sun in a cloudless sky.
He, because of whom all sins were destroyed by the bath in the Sarasvatī River, shone. The Sarasvatī obtained the power to purify persons of sin, like the Gaḍgā.
Thus Jamadagni, being worshiped by Paraśurāma, was brought back to life with full remembrance, and became the seventh among of the seven sages in the sky.
Jamadagni obtained his body with the symptom of remembrance. He became the seventh sage in the constellation. The seven sages are Kaśyapa, Atri, Vaśiṣtha, Viśvāmitra, Gautama, Jamadagni, and Bharadvāja.
O King! In the next Manvantara the lotus-eyed Paraśurāma, the son of Jamadagni, will be a great propounder of Vedic knowledge
Bṛhat means that he will become the foremost among the seven sages who distribute the Vedas.
Paraśurāma still lives as an intelligent brāhmaṇa in the place known as Mahendra. Completely satisfied, having given up all the weapons of a kṣatriya, he is always worshiped for his exalted character by the Siddhas, Cāraṇas and Gandharvas.
In this way the supreme soul, the Supreme Lord, the supreme controller, descended as an incarnation in the Bhṛgu dynasty and killed the kings, a great burden of the world, many times.
From Mahārāja Gādhi, was born a son, Viśvāmitra, who, as powerful as a blazing fire, gave up the position of a kṣatriya and achieved the position of a powerful brāhmaṇa by undergoing austerities.
Having finished the incidental story, concerning the line from his daughter, Śukadeva now describes the main line from Gādhis son.
O King! Viśvāmitra had 101 sons, of whom the middle one was known as Madhucchandā. In relation to him, all the other sons were celebrated as the Madhucchandās.
He had one hundred and one sons (eka-śatam). Śruti says tasya ha viśvāmitrasyaika-śataṁ putrā āsuḥ pañcāśad eva jyāyāṁso madhucchandasaḥ pañcāśat kanīyāṁsaḥ: Viśvāmitra had 101 sons, fifty of which were older than Madhucchandā and fifty younger. (Ṛg Veda, Aitareya Brāhmaṇa 7.15.7) They were all called by the same name since he was the principal in the group. When placing bricks for a sacrifice one brick is purified by the famous prāṇa-bhṛta mantra and is called prāna-bhṛt. All other bricks are called prāṇa-bhrt since they are related to the principal brick.
Viśvāmitra accepted the son of Ajīgarta known as Śunaḥśepha, who was born in the Bhṛgu dynasty and was also known as Devarāta, as one of his own sons. Viśvāmitra ordered his other sons to accept Śunaḥśepha as their eldest brother.
Viśvāmitra made Śunaḥśepha, the son of Ajīgarta, of the Bhṛgu dynasty, his son, and told his own sons to accept him as their eldest.
Śunaḥśepha was sold by his father to be sacrificed as a man-animal in the sacrifice of King Hariścandra. Śunaḥśepha prayed to the devatās headed by Brahmā, and was freed from being sacrificed.
Who was Śunaśepha? That is described in this verse. At the sacrifice performed by Hariścandra, Rohita, who was the son to be sacrificed, bought the middle son named Śuaśepha as the sacrificial animal, since the father Ajīgarta had more affection for his eldest and youngest sons. Śunaśepha praised the devatās and became free from the bondage as an animal.
Although Śunaḥśepha was born in the Bhārgava dynasty, because he was protected by the devatās during the sacrifice, he was also celebrated as the descendant of Gādhi and named Devarāta because of his austerities.
Though he was born in the Bhārgava dynasty, because he became the object of mercy of Viśvāmitra, he became known as Devarāta of Gādhis dynasty because of his austerities.
The elder fifty of the Madhucchandās, the sons of Viśvāmitra, did not agree to accept Śunaḥśepha as their elder brother. Therefore Viśvāmitra, becoming angry, cursed them. "May all of you bad sons become mlecchas," he said.
The fifty elder brothers did not think it was good to have Śunaḥśepha as their eldest brother. Viśvāmitra (muniḥ) then cursed them.
Then along with the younger fifty sons, Madhucchandā said, "Dear father, we shall accept whatever arrangement you like."
The middle son Madhucchandā, along with the fifty younger sons, then spoke clearly (ha). What you, our father, consider him to be, either oldest or youngest, we accept.
The younger Madhucchandās accepted Śunaḥśepha, seer of mantras, as their eldest brother and told him, "We shall follow your orders." Viśvāmitra then said to his sons, "You, who accepted to honor me, will have sons. You have made me have sons."
The younger sons accepted Śunaḥśepha, seer of mantras, as the eldest son. He revealed mantras such as kasya nūnaṁ katamasyāmṛtānām. They said, We, who are younger, will follow you. Viśvāmitra, being pleased, said to them, You will have sons. You accepted me as respectable by following my order. Thus, you have made me have sons. Otherwise from getting my curse and becoming mlecchas, I would be without sons.
Viśvāmitra said, "O Kuśikas, this Devarāta is my son and is one of you. Therefore please obey him." Viśvāmitra also had many other sons, such as Aṣṭaka, Hārīta, Jaya and Kratumān.
O Kuśikas! He is also a Kauśika. Because he is my good son, obey him. Viśvāmitra had other sons also such as Aṣṭaka.
Thus there were varieties and a new excellence in the Kauśika dynasty because of Viśvāmitra, since Devarāta (Śunaśepha) was made the eldest son.
This verse summarizes the story. Some were cursed and some were blessed. And another was accepted as a son. Thus the dynasty of Kauśika became various, and had a different excellence (pravarāntaram) because of Viśvāmitra (viśvamitraiḥ), since (hi) it reached excellence through Devarāta, when he was accepted as the eldest son.
Thus ends the commentary on the Sixteenth Chapter of the Ninth Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas.
In the Sixteenth Chapter, Paraśurāma kills the sons of Kartavīryārjuna, because they killed his father, and makes the world devoid of kṣatriyas. Also the story of Viśvāmitra is told.