Parshuram Jayanti

About Parshuram Jayanti

Significance

Parshuram Jayanti marks the birth of Bhagavan Parashurama, counted as the sixth avatara of Vishnu, son of the sage Jamadagni of the Bhrigu line and of Renuka. He takes his name from the axe (parashu) received, according to tradition, from Shiva. The Mahabharata (Vana Parva, chapters 115–117, and Shanti Parva, chapter 49) and the Bhagavata Purana (9.15–16) tell how the king Kartavirya Arjuna seized his father’s sacred cow, how Parashurama slew him, and how, after the king’s sons killed Jamadagni, he rid the earth of oppressive kings twenty-one times and gave the land to the sage Kashyapa.

Parashurama is one of the chiranjivis, those held to live through the ages, and in the Mahabharata he is the teacher of Bhishma, Drona and Karna. Regional traditions, recorded in the Sahyadri Khanda and the Kerala Keralolpatti, credit him with reclaiming the western coast from the sea by casting his axe, which is why the Konkan and Kerala are called Parashurama-kshetra.

How and where it is observed

The day is kept widely in North and West India and along the Konkan and Kerala coasts, with particular devotion in Brahmin communities that regard Parashurama as their patron. Temples at Chiplun in Maharashtra and other Parashurama shrines hold festivals, shobha yatras are taken out in many towns, and several state governments list the day as a holiday. Parashuram Kund in Arunachal Pradesh is a pilgrimage associated with him, though its great fair is at Makar Sankranti.

Rituals

Devotees worship Parashurama’s image with sandal paste, tulasi and flowers, recite his story and the Vishnu Sahasranama, and in many families keep a fast until the evening worship, since tradition places his birth in the early part of the night. Gifts to Brahmins and charity are customary, and the processions carry his image with the axe.

How the date is fixed

Parshuram Jayanti falls on Vaishakha Shukla Tritiya, the same month name in the Amanta and Purnimanta calendars. Because the birth is placed at dusk, the day is the one on which Tritiya prevails during Pradosh, from sunset through the first fifth of the night. If Tritiya covers part of Pradosh on two evenings, the evening with the greater coverage is taken; if it covers neither, the day on which it prevails longest. Akshaya Tritiya, on the same tithi, is fixed by the forenoon, so the two are usually the same day but are sometimes a day apart.

Sources

• Mahabharata, Vana Parva (Tirthayatra Parva), chapters 115–117, and Shanti Parva, chapter 49
• Bhagavata Purana 9.15–16 (Parashurama and Kartavirya Arjuna)
• Skanda Purana, Sahyadri Khanda (Parashurama and the western coast)

Customs differ between regions, communities and families; this description is background, not a prescription. The date above is calculated by the rule shown on this page.