Parashurama: The Axe Wielder

In the kingdom of Haihaya,
A king, powerful and cruel,
Possessing a thousand hands,
Invincible, merciless tyrant, Arjuna.
Born, the only one with the power,
Vishnu, to vanquish the King Arjuna,
Son to Jamadagni and Renuka,
Granted, the Parashu of Shiva.
It was Kamdhenu, a gift from Indra,
That did feed the entourage of the King.
It was his greed that showed, not gratitude,
The uninvited guests did turn into thieves.
Infuriated, Parashurama stormed the kingdom of King Kartavirya
Seventeen akshauhinis greeted Parashurama,
Brandishing his axe with a murderous rage,
Decimating an entire army, not a single man escaped
From his wrath.
Enraged, at the destruction of his armies, Arjuna charged forth.
A thousand arms dismembered,
The final blow his to his head,
Arjuna Kartaviriya, now he lies dead.
Victorious Parashurama, a kingdom laid waste.
Kamdhenu was returned from where she came.
And life goes on as it did before.
My son, be aware of wrath and pride,
Father, I accept this penance.
A pilgrimage to the holy places,
A year for my purification.
The sons of Arjuna were out to avenge,
The murdererof ourfather will meet his end.
For this sin of Parashurama, Jamadagni will pay,
Decapitated his body, his head we shall claim.
On his return home Parashurama found no solace,
His mother lay weeping by the corpse of his father.
Furious, he hunted and killed the sons of Kartavirya,
Returning with the head of his father, cremating his remains.
I will enact genocide on the Kshatriyas, twenty one times over,
One for every time you beat your breast beside the corpse of my father.
And so he travelled the earth,
Killing all men of the Kshatriya caste.
Guilty or innocent,
All shall pay.