Is it a misconception that Parasurama is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu?

 A Vaishnava-based answer ahead…

No. Lord Parashurama is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It is very important to know which are Lord Vishnu’s avatars and which are not. Out of the infinite forms of Lord Vishnu, which are non-different from each other, Parashurama is also a form. Here are some proofs of Lord Parashurama being an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

यमाहुर्वासुदेवांशं हैहयानां कुलान्तकम् ।
त्रि:सप्तकृत्वो य इमां चक्रे नि:क्षत्रियां महीम् ॥ १४ ॥
Learned scholars accept this Paraśurāma as the celebrated incarnation of Vāsudeva who annihilated the dynasty of Kārtavīrya. Paraśurāma killed all the kṣatriyas on earth twenty-one times.
[SrimadBhagavatam, 9.15.14]

evaḿ bhṛguṣu viśvātmā
bhagavān harir īśvaraḥ
avatīrya paraḿ bhāraḿ
bhuvo 'han bahuśo nṛpān
In this way the supreme soul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord and the supreme controller, descended as an incarnation in the Bhṛgu dynasty and released the universe from the burden of undesirable kings by killing them many times.
[SrimadBhagavatam 9.16.27]

जामदग्‍न्योऽपि भगवान् राम: कमललोचन: ।
आगामिन्यन्तरे राजन् वर्तयिष्यति वै बृहत् ॥ २५ ॥
My dear King Parīkṣit, in the next manvantara the lotus-eyed Personality of Godhead Lord Paraśurāma, the son of Jamadagni, will be a great propounder of Vedic knowledge. In other words, he will be one of the seven sages.
[SrimadBhagavatam, 9.16.25]

Appearing in the forms of a swan, a tortoise, a fish, O foremost of regenerate ones, I shall then display myself as a boar, then as a Man-lion (Nrisingha), then as a dwarf, then as Rama of Bhrigu's race, then as Rama, the son of Dasaratha, then as Krishna the scion of the Sattwata race, and lastly as Kalki. When the auditions in the Vedas disappeared from the world, I brought them back. The Vedas with the auditions in them were re-created by me in the Krita age.

In the Treta age I shall take birth as Rama in the race of Bhrigu, and exterminate the Kshatriyas who will become proud of their strength and possessions.
[Mahabharata, Shanti Parva]

Even SriMadhvacharya in His Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya says that, “Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Kalki, Hari, Vedavyasa, Aitareya, Kapila Vaasudeva, Dattatreya, Badavalana, Dhanvantari, Mohini, Hayagriva, Yagya, Taapasa, Narayana, Rishabhadeva, etc. are verily Lord Vishnu Himself and there is no difference between Lord Vishnu and His avataras.”

Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita says that He is the one who is worshipped in all the yagyas. There is a yagya by the name Vaishvadeva, which is done for anna shuddhi; the main Bhagavadroopa who is being worshipped is Lord Parashurama roopi Narayana residing within Agnideva. Parashurama is the antaryami roopa or the indwelling form within Agni. Even when we show Naivedya to Bhagavan Vishnu, Bhagavan accepts the Naivedya in His Kurma roopa, smells the Naivedya in Narasimha roopa, and gives it to Lakshmidevi. Then He gives one glance at the Naivedya in His Parashurama roopa, which is then accepted by other devatas as Bhagavat prasaada.

If you have a question regarding the Parashurama and Rama encounter in Treta yuga, you can refer to this answer of mine. In this, I have explained why it happened and all, as per SriMadhvacharya’s Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya.

SriNarayana Dasa

· Jul 7

How does the Madhva Siddhanta explain the spiritual significance of the encounter between Lord Rama and Lord Parashurama after the breaking of Shiva’s bow?

This answer will be purely based on Madhva Siddhanta. THE VALMIKI RAMAYANA STORY OF RAMA AND PARASHURAMA: The Valmiki Ramayana states that when Lord Rama married Sitadevi, Lakshmana married Urmiladevi, Bharata married Mandavidevi, and Shatrughna married Shrutakirtidevi. King Dasharatha, along with his sons and daughters-in-law, was coming to Ayodhya after the marriage. He saw some bad omens. The animals and birds were moving toward his left; they were making weird sounds, and King Dasharatha's heart was filled with foreboding. King Dasharatha was worried about it and asked Sage Vasistha, the kula-guru of the Solar dynasty. Sage Vasistha too saw these omens and replied, indicating towards the incoming fear. Suddenly, Lord Parashurama appeared. He looked like a blazing ritual-fire, with a matted tuft shining like molten gold. He was holding an axe in one hand and a bow in the other, and was shining with such a radiance that common people could not even see Him. Sage Vasistha and other brahmanas who were present there immediately went and offered arghya, paadya, achamana, etc. to Lord Parashurama. King Dasharatha was most concerned about his eldest son, Rama, who had just married Sitadevi. He feared that Lord Parashurama, being the destroyer of the kshatriyas, could harm Lord Rama. But his fear became reality. Lord Parashurama directly approached Lord Rama and said, “O Rama! I have heard a lot about your valor from the killing of the wicked Taataka, and protecting the sacrifice of the sages to the lifting of the mighty bow of Lord Shiva like a toy. I am greatly impressed by it.” Lord Parashurama said, “The bow which you broke was the bow of Lord Shiva. The bow that I have in my hand is Lord Vishnu’s bow. Long ago, Vishvakarma made both of these bows and gave them to Lakshmipati Narayana and Umapati Shiva. The devatas prayed for both of them to have a fight, wherein Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva stood in front of each other. Lord Vishnu, just with a humkaara (‘Hum’ sound), froze Lord Shiva. After that, Lord Vishnu was declared the winner and the supreme God. So, this is Vishnu’s bow, which I am currently holding. And this bow can only and only be lifted by Lord Vishnu and nobody else. I challenge you to a duel. Lift this bow.” Hearing the words of Lord Parashurama, Lord Rama, the husband of Ramaa, took the bow from Lord Parashurama’s hand and lifted it as if it were a toy and put the arrow on it, and teased Lord Parashurama, saying that He had been defeated. Lord Parashurama praised Lord Rama as verily Lord Vishnu. Lord Rama offered Lord Parashurama two options: first, He would destroy Lord Parashurama’s punya lokas, which He earned, and second, He would destroy Lord Parashurama’s tapas shakti by which He could go and arrive at Mount Mahendra. Lord Parashurama chose the first option, and Lord Rama shot the arrow towards it. Lord Parashurama disappeared. This is what is mentioned in the Valmiki Ramayana. HOW DOES SRIMADHVACHARYA PROVIDE NIRNAYA ON THIS STORY?? SriMadhvacharya, in His Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya, says that Lord Parashurama is verily Lord Vishnu Himself. Many assume that Lord Rama broke the arrogance of Lord Parashurama. But SriMadhvacharya says that Lord Parashurama cannot have arrogance at all, because He is Lord Vishnu Himself. As Lord Parashurama said, ‘This bow cannot be lifted by anyone except Lord Vishnu.’ If Lord Parashurama is not Lord Vishnu, then how can He hold the bow of Lord Vishnu? Lord Parashurama held it in His hand. Therefore, it proves that Lord Parashurama is Lord Vishnu Himself. Lord Vishnu is devoid of all faults; therefore, known as Narayana. Therefore, the reason why Lord Parashurama came was different. There was a demon named Atula. This Atula-named demon had done penance to please Lord Brahma and asked the boon: “May I never die no matter whatever bad sins I perform, and should not attain hell.” Lord Brahma, listening to Atula’s words, said thus, “O demon, you will not die and attain hell only on one condition. When the thought that ‘Narayana is defeated’ comes to mind, you will die on the spot. Otherwise, you will never die.” Thus, obtaining a boon from Lord Brahma, Atula did the penance to please Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva, pleased by his penance, appeared in front of him, and Atula asked, ‘I should enter the body of Lord Vishnu.' to which Lord Shiva said, “So be it”. Therefore, Atula entered Lord Parashurama’s navel region. He knew Lord Vishnu could never be defeated; therefore, He entered Lord Parashurama’s navel region so that He would remain safe. Now, when Lord Parashurama came and challenged Lord Rama for lifting the bow, and Lord Rama lifted the bow of Lord Vishnu and put an arrow on it and gave Lord Parashurama two choices, Lord Parashurama acted as if He accepted His defeat. Lord Rama, too, teased Lord Parashurama happily that He got defeated. The Atula who was sitting within got frightened since the thought came, ‘Lord Parashurama, who is Narayana Himself, has been defeated.’ Therefore, feared thus, Atula came out. Lord Rama, in the guise of destroying Lord Parashurama’s punya lokas, which He had gained, hit the arrow. At the same time, Atula came out and was hit by Lord Rama’s arrow, and the demon died. After this, Lord Rama and Lord Parashurama merged with each other to show the world that they are both the same and then separated again into their two visible forms. After that, Lord Parashurama disappeared. Thus, to destroy this Atula-named demon, Lord Parashurama approached Lord Rama, not because of arrogance, which is a materialistic attribute. SriMadhvacharya says, this is mentioned in the Moola Ramayana, which is written by Lord Hayagriva, who is verily Lord Vishnu. This is evident from the Matsya Purana that Lord Hayagriva was the original composer of the Ramayana. This Moola Ramayana contains 100 Crore shlokas, but nowadays it is not easily available. Lord Hayagriva told this Ramayana to Lord Brahma, and Lord Brahma told this to Naarada Maharshi. Naarada Maharshi told this to Sage Valmiki (which we see in the Balakanda first sarga). Sage Valmiki wrote the Valmiki Ramayana. So, SriMadhvacharya quotes from the Moola Ramayana, which is one of the Sadaagama. Hope this helps! Jay SriRam! ShriKrishnarpanamastu!

In the Vishnu Sahasranama too, there is a name of Lord Vishnu by the name “सुधन्वाखण्डपरशुर्दारुणो द्रविणप्रदः ।” where Akhanda parashuh means the one possessing an unbroken axe, and we know it is Lord Parashurama only. Plus, He is also considered one of the Dashavatara of Lord Vishnu.

Hope this helps!
Jay SriRam!
ShriKrishnarpanamastu!