Rama encounters Parashurama!

This post is a sequel to one of my previous posts, Sita weds Rama.

Sita and Rama were newly wed

From Mithila to Ayodhya, they did tread

On the way they encountered a Man

Terror to the ones born of Kshatriya clan

He stood on the way of the marriage procession

Drawing everyone's sight with fearful attention

Fiery eyes! And hands on his hip

Angry words came from his lip

"Who is Rama? I like to see

Whose praise is sung across every sea

Nothing has He achieved, though

Killing a woman and breaking a bow!"

King Dasaratha went and fell at his feet

And spoke some words, humble and sweet

"My son Rama is a little one

This anger on Him, thou must shun"

The angry man paid no heed

"To see Rama, is all I need

Stop you King, your cowardly talk

In front of me, Rama must walk!"

There stood Rama in front of Him

In the angry man's eyes, awe did brim

Rama's presence appeased his heart

And brought in him the following thought

'This guy Rama is cool and calm

Meets my standards of a Prince's norm

In spite of success, He is humble and warm

To my anger on princes, He is a soothing balm'

Though his heart spoke in favour of Rama

He did decide to continue the Drama

"So thou art Rama, celebrating premature success

And undeserved glory that you earned in excess"

"Success! Glory! They come and go

For such trivial things I take not my bow"

Taken aback by Rama's smile and reply

He wanted to smile but did not comply

"The bow that you broke was old and worn

The bow in my hand is better and strong

String this bow and fight with me

The worth of thy glory, let me see!"

"Fight over might is ugly and small

To animal nature, should we fall?"

"Throw those words in the old dust bin

And get into action or loose your kith and kin"

"If thus be thy stance then I am in delight!

I'll show you how bitter it is to fight"

Saying thus, Shri Rama did what was right

Got the bow from His challenger and strung it tight

Seeing Shri Rama do that with ease

Parasurama for a moment did freeze

He then came back to his normal senses

And apologised for all his verbal offenses

"Shri Rama, thou not an ordinary being

Forgive me for all the verbal misgiving"

But by then Rama had fixed an arrow

For retrieving that chances were zero

"I accept your apologies which are earnest and true

What about this arrow? Give me a clue!

I do not wish to kill a master like you

I can give you a choice, pick one of the two

Shall I make you immobile for ever?

Or shall I take all your spiritual power?"

"Sitting in one place is anymore bore

For the rest of my life, I'll be on tour!

I give you my powers with all my heart

Then with your consent, I shall depart"

Shri Rama shot the arrow at him

Which cut off all his powers trim

Disappeared into his body without a trace

And added his powers to Rama's grace

Parasurama felt no defeat at this

He realised the truth as it is

And was relieved from all worldly affair

Now it was Rama's job to continue repair

Rama and Parasurama understood each other

Rama and Parasurama admired each other

Rama and Parasurama took leave of each other

Rama's marriage procession proceeded further!

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To read the following sequel, click here.