In a land torn by strife and dissension, there was born to a Brahmin sage the epitome of valor, the very embodiment of belligerence. Parasurama was his name; they called him the Hero with an Axe. A hero who demanded powers that took him from the dark cages of the suppressed to the darker alleys of the oppressor. A hero who reminds us of the inequitable sides of justice and the confounded manner of duties.

Kshatriyan warriors, the ruling class in ancient India had embarked on a mission to obliterate the power of Brahmins who were entirely composed of intellectuals and priests. The peoples' allegiance gradually shifted over to the warrior caste as the land became increasingly plagued by invaders from beyond the boundaries. Eventually as Brahmins degraded to mendicancy, many of the self-respecting priests and sages chose to live in forests away from the oppression and humiliation that was detrimental to their learning experience. Parasurama was born to such a sage who had chosen self-exile over subjugation. His family was blessed in abundance by the innumerable Gods that they worshipped and he himself was gifted in all the knowledge that was contained in the Scriptures and Vedas. But Parasurama was not born to read manuscripts or sow seeds. His birth was predestined to end the oppressive rule of the Kshatriyas. He would one day walk the Earth splitting bodies and collecting severed heads either as a prize or to prevent a dead man from telling tales.

Parasurama's father The Sage once decided to extend his hospitality to a king and his entourage who were on a hunting expedition. This king, who was supposed to gain the strength of a thousand arms in battles, was keen on having the "all-providing" cow that was gifted to The Sage by the Gods. When earnest requests were replied with reluctant pleas, the king had no choice but to take away his object of desire by force, burning the place to the ground and insulting the hospitality of the sage in the process.

Mean while Parasurama was camping in the forest, deeply absorbed in a rigorous penance to please the God with The Power to Destroy to grant him the physical prowess that could match his own intellectual abilities. The God upon perceiving the young Brahmin's perseverance and solemnity chose to gift him with immortality and the mastery of all forms of warfare. His prized donation was an axe with a thirst for blood that could never be quenched. An ecstatic Parasurama returned home to find the place torched to the ground and all his belongings demolished. The insult meted on his father and the loss of his beloved all-providing cow infuriated him and he vowed the annihilation of the perpetrators at any cost. Parasurama set out to meet the powerful king and his army with his axe and the newly acquired skills. He did not cease to fight until the king, his army and his entire clan was slaughtered. But the axe thirsted for more blood and so Parasurama ceded to its terrible request by butchering Kshatriyas all over the region. Parasuram and his axe went over the land killing all of the Kshatriyans not once but twenty-one times over. Blood flowed down the land and formed five great lakes spread across the continent. As the Hero was granted immortality, no living soul on Earth could match him. Warriors on Earth went into hiding to escape his wrath but Parasurama would always find them, be it beneath a stone or behind a woman.

One day, knowing that his son was massacring warriors in some corner of the Earth, the Sage decided to confront him and bring him to his senses. The Sage finally persuaded Parasurama to end his carnage and come home. But according to the Scriptures, in order to return back to normal life, the Brahmin warrior would have to repent and ask for forgiveness from the Gods to prevent retribution upon himself and his clan in retaliation to the extreme act of inhumanity. No amount of penitence could wash the blood away from his axe. His sorrow was dark and profound but he had to have an answer to this predicament. Parasurama, as a token of munificence, then decided to build a new land for the Brahmins, the Gods' own people, so that they could come out of their hiding and resume their journey toward enlightenment in peace. He traveled down to the southernmost point of ancient India and threw his axe northward towards the ocean. The sea receded and the land parted at the point where his axe fell and this strip of land joined to the larger land mass. This land was called God's Own Country. Brahmins from all over the place traveled over to this land to offer prayers and remember the days of their prosecution.

Parasurama set out to repent for his sins by proper penance in the darkest woods of the deepest forests. Nothing was ever heard of him again. But every time a foot is raised to trample the poor, every time a ruler kneels before ultimate justice, in some corners of the world they still remember the immortal Parasurama; that he still roams the Earth with his axe that still thirsts for royal blood.