Third Letter Home: Parasurama


In my third letter, Alexander is writing home to his palace priest. The letter contains the story of Parasurama teaching Karna.



    I command that you burn this letter immediately after reading and I also command that you never speak of the content of this letter to another as long as you live. Philip, I am experiencing some inner struggles - and these struggles are nothing like anything I have ever experienced before. I know that I have been troubled with decisions before, such as which direction to lead my troops during battle, who should be my advisers, and what must be done with the various prisoners in captivity. This thing that I feel, however, is much different than troubles of that nature. This struggle is on the inside, so I feel that it attacks my very heart. Being a son of Zeus, I never thought that my heart would ever be filled with struggles such as this. Since you are my most trusted spiritual advisor, my outlet to the Gods, I implore you to reveal to me the meaning of these thoughts I am experiencing. Among the captives of our last raid on a local Indian village was a young, nameless ascetic. He did not seem to respond to the outside world in any way. I thought maybe his mind had come under a strange illness, but eventually he shared a story with myself and my generals. It was the story of a warrior guru by the name of Parasurama. His story, much different than any I have heard before, goes like this...

    Parasurama, the sixth incarnation of the great Protector Vishnu, had but one purpose in this life. This purpose, the same purpose shared by all avatars of Vishnu, was to restore Dharma to this world. But his method of pursuing this purpose was much different than any other pursuers of Dharma. This incarnation of Vishnu believed the most important way of pursuing life was through asceticism and simplicity. So he spent his whole life in a small hut on the side of a mountain deep in the wilderness. He vowed to only teach one apprentice in his lifetime. And he knew that during this lifetime, he must destroy the evil in this world through teaching and spiritual means. From the time he was born he knew this, but until he met his student, he had no idea what that meant.

    But then one day, a warrior by the name of Karna entered Parasurama's home, disguised as a Brahman. He hoped to make Parasurama believe that he was a priest so that Parasurama would teach him all of the spiritual weapons in Parasurama's arsenal. But it mattered not how much Karna changed his appearance or behavior. Parasurama knew all along that Karna was a warrior and ally of the Kauravas. Parasurama knew that his golden opportunity had entered because Parasurama saw that Karna would be his tool for restoring Dharma in the upcoming years of war.

So over the next few years, Parasurama taught Karna everything that he knew. He showed him all of the spiritual weapons, demonstrated proper meditation, and taught Karna all about the spiritual world and the Gods who inhabited Heaven and Earth. But all along, Parasurama had a much bigger plan. When Parasurama taught Karna the Brahmastra, the most powerful weapon in the world, he left out one important detail. He taught Karna how to create the weapon and how to activate it, but he left out how to propel it. Parasurama knew that one day, Karna would try to use that weapon against a future incarnation of Vishnu, Krishna. So after teaching Karna this incomplete mantra, he sent Karna on his way. Parasurama's task on this world had been completed. All would fall into place, and Dharma would be restored to the world

    Later during the epic battle between the Kauravas and Pandavas, Karna sensed that his army, the army of the Kauravas, was beginning to lose. So he meditated on the Brahmastra, chanted the mantra, and brought the Brahmastra into existence. But because of Parasurama's actions, the Brahmastra stayed by Karna's side and did not pursue the Pandavas or Krishna. With a flash, the Brahmastra exploded in the area occupied by the Kaurava troops. Karna and all the Kauravas were erased from existence and Dharma once again was restored the kingdom.

    Phillip, what good is all of my fighting? Am I like Karna or Parsurama? Am I the deceived or am I the victor? I spend all of the effort, I never sleep and I have been at the edge of death more times than I can count. Of course I'm trying to bring good to this world. But am I doing it the right way? Is there not a more strategic way? Could teaching and a minimalist lifestyle be the way? Could my life of excess be leading me away from the success that I seek?

                                                                                                         


                                                                                    A
Back to the Beginning

Forget the Background Already?   

Author's note:

Parasurama's identity in the original story and my version of the story is the same. Parasurama is the sixth avatar of Vishnu. He was a warrior priest who trained Karna. In the original story Parasurama did not trick Karna. He cursed him because Karna had deceived him into believing Karna was a priest. This curse eventually led to Karna's death, but it was by someone else's hands that Karna actually died. Also, in the original story, Parasurama's motivations are not clear. The story also is not long enough for the reader to really know whether Parasurama chose to curse Karna to stop him from killing Arjuna or whether he really was just angry about the deception. In my story, Karna still attempts to deceive Parasurama, but in my version Parasurama is not fooled. In fact, it is Parasurama who deceives Karna. Because Parasurama was leading such a simple lifestyle, he chooses the simplest way to destroy an army of millions. This was through keeping a single line of the mantra from Karna. By just omitting one line, Parasurama saves a whole army and destroys another. This caused Alexander to become confused as to whether his style of living and fighting was the best. Alexander lived a life of excess, not minimalism. His battles were won with brute strength. Alexander was seeing that such a life was taking its toll on him and on his troops. The story of Parasurama introduced the idea of how simplicity and knowledge could be used so effectively in wartime strategies which made Alexander reconsider whether a life filled with constant struggle and violence was really the best life, since Parasurama achieved an enormous military victory by living a completely different kind of life.

OU Home | Disclaimer | Copyright | Equal Opportunity | OU Web Policy