Saturday 21 December 2013

পরশুরাম (The man with the Axe)

We all are running to make our own identity. Sometimes we are already born with it or we chase towards making it later in our life. But how many people on this earth are living without it?



I haven't thought about this before I saw the film "Parashuram". This is about a rural migrant (played by Arun Mukherjee) who comes to Kolkata in search of work. He always carries an axe on his shoulder & preserves the strange memory of his encounter with a tiger. He believes the axe to be lucky for him and can eliminate any fear of his life.

Every character in general is identified by a name. But the man has no identity in this film. He mixes up with the other rural migrants on street & starts living with an old beggar at an abandoned graveyard. He was given a name "Parashuram" by the fellow rural migrants. Why the name "Parashuram"?


Arun Mukherjee as "Parashuram"

"Parashuram" was the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu and he was born during the Treta Yuga. According to Hinduism, there are four ages/yugas titled as : Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, Kali Yuga. These four ages are part of a greater cycle of existence, known as a Manvantara & is a significant feature of many other cosmic cycles, notably the four seasons of the year, the four weeks of the lunar month, the four ages of human life & the four points of the compass. At present we are passing through Kali Yuga, one of the darkest of all other ages.

Parashuram- the sixth avatar of lord Vishnu

Parashuram was a devotee of Lord Shiva and he received a Parshu (weapon-Axe) from him as a boon. Thus the name "Parashurama" was given to him. It is believed that he is immortal and still lives on this earth. He will even teach war skills to Kalaki, the tenth avatar of Lord Vishnu, who is to come on earth at the end of Kali Yuga.

So in this film, why they call him "Parashuram"?. Just because he carries an axe like Parashuram or something else?
Well, there is a belief among the people that, Parashuram is still alive in our Kali Yuga who will save the world from destructions like he did during the Treta Yuga by exterminating all of the ruling class, namely the Kshatriyas, from the face of the earth 21 times with his gifted Axe from Lord Shiva.

Parashuram in a battle against Kshatriyas 

Like Treta Yuga, many people are made to suffer now in a different form. Many people are starving daily on earth and spend their entire life without an identity or value to leave here after their last breath.