Why did Parshurama cut his mother’s head?

Parshurama was the son of sage Jamadagni and Renuka. Renuka was known for her chastity and devotion to her husband. Such was her faith, that she was able to fetch water from the river in a pot of unbaked clay, with the pot held together only by the strength of her devotion. One day while at the river, a group of Gandharvas in a chariot passed by in the sky above. Filled with desire for only a moment, the unbaked pot she held dissolved in the river. Afraid to return to her husband, she waited at the river bank, uncertain of what to do next. Meanwhile, Jamadagni noticed his wife had not returned. Through his yogic powers, he divined all that had taken place and was enraged.The rishi called his eldest son, handed him an axe and asked the boy to kill his mother. Horrified, the boy refused, and so Jamadagni turned him to stone. He then asked each of his sons, and as they refused, one by one, he turned them to stone. Finally only his youngest son, Parashurama, was left. Ever obedient, the boy beheaded his mother.Pleased, Jamadagni then offered two boons to Parashurama. The boy asked that his mother be brought back to life and his brothers to be returned from stone to flesh. Impressed by the affection and devotion of his son, Jamadagni granted his request.

The legend of Goddess Yellamma

Goddess Yellamma is a popular deity in Southern parts of India. She is the Goddess of the poor and downtrodden. The story of origin of Yellamma is unique and is associated with Goddess Renuka the mother of Parashurama. When Parashuram raised his axe to kill his mother, she ran and took refuge in the house of a low-caste poor woman. Parashuram followed his mother and while performing the act of beheading, he also accidentally chops of the head of the low-caste poor woman who tries to prevent the matricide. When Jamdagni granted Parashurama the boon to revive his mother, he accidentally placed the low-caste woman’s head with his mother’s body. The original head of Renuka was from then onwards worshipped as Yellamma. And thus the Goddess is referred as Renuka Yellamma.

After this incident, once King Kartavirya of the Haihaya came upon the hermitage of Jamadagni. The visit happened at a time Parusharama was away in the forest, and although the king had a massive entourage, the saptarishi was able to serve the king a grand feast. When Kartavirya asked how he was able to do so, Jamadagni showed him a blessed Kamadhenu calf, given to Jamadagni by Indra, which was able to grant wishes. Kartavirya was covetous and wanted the calf as his own.

Returning home, Parashurama was infuriated and traveled to the royal palace. Brandishing his axe, he decimated its guards and killed the mighty King Kartavirya, retrieving the calf. When he returned home, his father was pleased, but seeing the blood stained axe of Parashurama, also concerned. He cautioned his son he must be aware of wrath and pride. Parashurama accepted the reprimand of his father, in penance, and went on a pilgrimage for purification.

Meanwhile, the sons of Kartavirya discovered their father at the palace and knew that only Parashurama could have killed him. In revenge, they traveled to the hermitage and murdered Jamadagni, surrounding the rishi and shooting him to death with arrows like a stag. Afterwards, they decapitated his body and took his head with them. When Parashurama returned home, he found his mother next to the body of his father, crying hysterically as she beat her chest twenty-one times.

Furious, he hunted down the sons of Kartavirya at the palace. He killed them all and returned with the head of his father to conduct the cremation. Parashurama then vowed to enact a genocide on the war-mongering Kshatriyas twenty-one times over, once for each time the hand of his mother hit her chest.

Parashurama then travelled the whole of Earth, killing all men of the Kshatriya caste, guilty or innocent. The first book of the Mahabharata writes: In the interval between the Treta and Dwapara Yugas, Parashurama, urged by impatience of wrongs, repeatedly smote the noble race of Kshatriyas. And when that fiery meteor, by his own valour, annihilated the entire tribe of the Kshatriyas, he formed at Samanta-panchaka five lakes of blood. - Mahabharata 1:2.