Lord Vishnu's 6th Avatar, that of the warrior Parasurama: There are many legends surrounding Lord Parasurama that extend through several ages, especially becuase he is considered an immortal being. Parasurama was the great-grandson ofMaharishi Bhragu. He was a Brahmin who was blessed to be born with Kshatriya qualities. He learnt all the arts of warfare directly from Lord Shiva after performing tough penance. His father,Jamdagni, once hosted the Haihaya KingSahasrarjun(Arjun with 1000 hands), when he fed him and his army with the help of the divine cowKamadhenu. Awestruck by its qualities, the king demanded the cow from the Rishi. When he would not part with it, Sahasrarjun snatched the cow and destroyed the ashram. When he came to know about this, Parashurama killed the king, because of which Sahasrarjun's sons killed Jamdagni. When Parasurama returned to his ashram, he found his mother crying. She explained how her husband had been brutally murdered while he was meditating, and beat her chest 21 times in anguish. Seething with anger, Parasurama promised to rid the earth of the tyrannical Kshatriya Kings 21 times. After completing his vow and thus becoming the king of the world, he donated the earth to Brahmins. In the Ramayan, Parasurama appears during Sita's Swayamvar, after hearing the earth-shattering noise created when Lord Ram (Vishnu's 7th Avatar - more on that later) break's Lord Shiva's bow. As a boon, Lord Ram asks for Lord Parasurama's agression, thus ridding him of it. In the Mahabharat, Parasuram is the instructor/mentor ofBhisma, DronaandKarna. He curses Karna to forget all his military knowledge at a crucial point so that the Pandavas win the war and the world is saved. Now for the science part of all this. We see that this avatar resembles an early man, who is brutal and warrior-like, lives a nomadic life and is barbaric in nature. He has developed from the pygmy sized-human (Vamana) form to a normal human being. Thus, this rightly fits into the evolution process, the chain-link of which is detailed below: Matsya (fish-aquatic) -> Kurma (tortoise-amphibian) -> Varaaha (boar-mammal) -> Narasimha (half animal - half man) -> Vamana (pygmy-human) -> Parasurama (early man) The next avatar is that of Lord Ram, the gentle and genial king who is most righteous and works towards the well-being of his subjects.
