Parashu Rama was a hot-tempered guy. How hot tempered? Well, his name means " Rama with an axe." If that brings to mind a certain genre of horror movie, your image isn't far off the mark.
Brahmin priests aren't axe murderers as a rule, but there are exceptions to every rule. Parashu Rama's time, the warrior caste was out of control. They were rampaging through the country-side, killing and exploiting innocent people (a definite no-no in Hinduism's strict code of conduct for warriors). When a soldier assaulted his father, Parashu Rama went berserk. Though he was a brahmin himself and not supposed to fight, Parashu Rama picked up an axe and killed the soldier.
But he didn't just kill that warrior. He killed all the warriors. But he didn't just kill all the warriors. He broke into their homes and killed their wives and children. And he didn't just do this once. Anytime he heard there was a surviving warrior anywhere, he rushed there and killed him and his family. Parashu Rama's goal was flat-out genocide. He didn't just want to wipe out the present evil race of violent men. He wanted to expunge the fighting class forever.
The story of Parashu Rama is probably based on historical fact, perhaps a brahmanical uprising against the corrupt warrior caste. But obviously no ordinary priest could achieve what Parashu Rama did and live to tell tale. The fact he was so successful could mean only one thing : He must have been an incarnation of Vishnu, come to purify the world.
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