The Axe Threatens Even the Unborn
Bala Kanda, Doha 272
Doha 272 · Movement 2 of 2
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Parashurama warns Lakshmana not to plunge his parents into grief. The young prince may treat the exchange as play, but the weapon upon the sage's shoulder carries a history from which royal houses still recoil.
His axe is terrible enough, he declares, to destroy children not yet born, cutting warrior lineages at their hidden root before they enter the world.
The threat enlarges the danger beyond Lakshmana's single body. Father, mother, descendants, and dynasty stand behind the prince while Parashurama's wrath claims power over them all. Yet Lakshmana hears the warning without shrinking. The more fear the sage pours into his words, the more lightly the younger Raghu seems prepared to answer.
Parashurama sets generations behind his threat, and Lakshmana remains before him unafraid.
Read the passage from the Manas
मातु पितहि जनि सोचबस करसि महीसकिसोर। गर्भन्ह के अर्भक दलन परसु मोर अति घोर।।272।।
Do not bring grief upon your parents, O young prince. My axe is exceedingly terrible; it slays even unborn children still in the womb.