Aihole’s mythological connection

This is the story of Lord Parashurama and his Antagonist Kartavirya Arjuna. However, more than it, this is about the mythological connection of Aihole with Lord Parashurama.

Location and Importance of the Aihole

The tiny village of Aihole is near the banks of the Malaprabha River in the fertile doab region of the Bijapur District of Karnataka. In the ancient inscriptions, this region is mentioned as Aryapura or Ayyavole. Aihole was the earliest and the most important city of the Chalukyas of the Badami or the Western Chalukyas, between the fourth and the sixth centuries.

It was also a flourishing town of the merchant guilds – the Aihole 500 or the Ayyavolu, the most powerful merchant guild of the medieval period originated here.

Story of Lord Parashurama and Kartavirya Arjuna

Parents of Lord Parashurama

Mythologically, Aihole is associated with Lord Parashurama, the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Lord Parashurama was the son of sage Jamadagni and Devi Renuka. The rishi-couple had a holy celestial cow – Nandini – daughter of the cow Kamadhenu. Just like her mother, Nandini too was bestowed with the boon of granting wishes to her owners.

Why Kartavirya Arjuna killed Rishi Jamadagni

Once the King Kartavirya Arjuna, who is also known as Sahasrabahu Arjuna, reached the ashram of Jamadagni Rishi with a large army. They were coming from a far and the army was tired and hungry. When the king saw the ashram he had a hope that may be the sage would have something to feed to his large hungry army.

The king requested the sage to arrange something to eat. He felt sorry though that he was asking an ascetic to arrange something for such a huge army on such a small notice. The Rishi and the Rishi Patni assured him that they understand his situation and would take care of him and the army. They took good care of all of them and fed them well.

The King was curious, “How the ascetic procured the food and fed so many people at such a small notice”. He learnt from the host that it was due to the miracles of Nandini. However, with this learning came his sense of entitlement. His greed and selfishness overpowered his initial thankfulness. He told the sage that such a divine cow should be in a royal palace and she has no utility in an ascetic’s ashram.

Initially, he tried to convince and reason it out with the sage. But, soon he realized that the sage is not ready to part with the divine bovine. He ordered his army to snatch away the animal. The rishi felt cheated and resisted hard. The king got furious at his resistance and killed the sage and forcibly took away the cow.

Parashurama and Kartavirya Arjuna – The revenge of Parashurama

Parashurama was not at home at that time. When He returned, He was shocked to see his father’s dead-body. His mother Renuka Devi narrated the whole story. Lord Parashurama worshipped his father and after listening to what happened in his absence, he was burning with anger. He promised His mother that he would make the king to pay for his misdeeds. He reached the King’s palace and invited him for the battle.

The king laughed at His audacity to challenge him and sent a huge army to fight against Him. However, He single-handedly killed all.

Kartavirya Arjuna then decided to face Him directly. He arrived on a chariot that he received as a boon. The chariot could go anywhere he instructed. The king himself was a powerful archer. He had thousand arms with which he could manage five hundred bows and five hundred arrows.

Parashurama attacked the king, slew his horses and destroyed the chariot. After that Parashurama hacked off the king’s thousand arms with His axe and finally killed him and exacted His vengeance for the evil-deed. However, His fury did not end here. His father’s body had twenty-one injury mark over the body. Parashurama held the Kshatriya clan responsible for it. He went all over the country and killed twenty-one generations of the Kshatriyas.

Now in Hindu Mythologies, the antagonist is always someone Great. So who was Kartavirya Arjuna, for whom Lord Vishnu had to take sixth incarnation.

Who was Kartavirya Arjuna?

Kartavirya Arjuna and Sudarshan Chakra

Kartavirya Arjuna or Sahasrabahu Arjuna was no-one else but the human personification of Sudarshan-Chakra. Lord Vishnu used Sudarshan Chakra to kill or punish His enemies. Slowly and Slowly Sudarshan Chakra started to feel that Lord Vishnu has an edge over others only because of him.

He demeaned Devas and bragged to everyone that he is equal to Lord Vishnu himself. In order to teach him the humility, Lord Vishnu cursed it to born as a human being with thousand spikes of the disc as his thousand hands. This curse brought Sudarshan Chakra to earth as Kartavirya Arjuna or Sahasrabahu Arjuna.

Kartavirya Arjuna – An ardent devotee of Lord Dattatreya

Kartavirya was an ardent devotee of spiritual ascetic Lord Dattatreya. Lord Dattatreya granted him multiple boons. These boons made him very powerful almost invincible.

Victories of Kartavirya Arjuna

He defeated Karkotaka Naga and made his city Mahishmati (near Narmada) as his capital.

Kartavirya Arjuna was unrivalled and famous for his sacrifices, charity, learning, austerity, fearlessness, strength and generosity. He was so powerful that when he dived in ocean, it caused turbulences. Even Asuras and Nagas were afraid of this mighty king.

Kartavirya Arjuna and Ravana

He was a contemporary of Ravana. He is mentioned in Ramayana as well. Once he was taking bath in river Narmada with his wives. He stopped the river flowing further with this powerful thousand arms. A little further Young Ravana was meditating. The stoppage of water broke his meditation. When he learnt the reason behind the water trickling further down, he challenged Arjuna for a combat. Arjuna defeated him and Ravana had to plead for his mercy.

Parashurama and Kartavirya Arjuna – How Kartavirya Arjuna invited the wrath of Lord Vishnu

However, all these victories and invincibility, made him arrogant. He lost his senses and started to trouble, slay and oppress innocent people, the Devas and the Yakshas. He thus invited the wrath of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu took birth as Lord Parashurama and killed him.

In a way, Kartavirya Arjunas story is similar to the story where Lord Shiva as Kirata challenged Arjuna to a duel over a wild boar. The only difference is that Arjuna after his pride was humbled listened to the Kirata while Kartavirya does not and thus was killed by Parashurama.

Lord Parashurama and Aihole Connection

After destroying, the Kshatriya clan twenty-one times, Lord Parashurama’s fury finally died down. He came to Malaprabha River to wash His axe dripping in blood. At the sight of river He cried Ai Ai ! Holi ! – Ah, the River! The place where he cried like this in ecstasy was Aihole. In Aihole, towards the north side of the village, an axe shaped rock is in the river. There are also foot-prints on a rock. A local tradition believe that these footprints are of Lord Parashurama Himself.

References

Magical Indian Myths – Anita Nair

The Art and Architecture of Aihole by R.S.Gupte

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