Parashurama Sahasranama Stotram
Dear All,
Greetings and Namaste. The auspicious Dhanur/MargashIrSha month started and as we know is a month dedicated to Lord Vishnu's worship as Vaikunta Ekadashi falls in this month.
There is also another important but less noticed occasion during this month - Parashurama Jayanthi - on 30-Dec-2012. Though Vaikunta Ekadashi falls before this, I thought I will share the very very rare Lord Parashurama Sahasranama by Lord Rama from Agni Puranam (just to be a tad safer from the proposed strike of planet Niburu on Dec 21, 2012 at the end of Mayan Calendar - just kidding!!)
At the outset, I would like to submit my sincere thanks to Shri. Tarang Deshpande, who sourced this very Sahasranama, not found in the print edition of the Purana by Chowkhamba, through his contacts. Though he had sent this to me about 6 months ago, I was waiting to share this closer to Parashurama Jayanthi now.
As ususal a few tidbits on the topic on hand:
Lord Parashurama's story has been covered in greater detail in two Puranas - Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Brahmanda Purana, though fleeting references may be there in other puranas and Itihasas.
There are very few temples dedicated to Lord Parashurama. The most important temple is Thiruvallam near Kovalam Beach, Trivandrum, Kerala. I had been to this temple a few years ago and even enquired the main Archakar about Parashurama Ashtottaram/Sahasranama - he mentioned that they use the normal Vishnu Sahasranama and he was not aware of any specific Ashtottaram/Sahasranama on Lord Parashurama. So, one can understand how rare the attached Sahasranama is.
There also seem to be a few other temples http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parashurama.
It is believed that most of the Keralite temples follow the procedures prescribed in Parashurama Kalpa.
In astrology, Parashurama is associated with Venus and Parasurama worship is prescribed for Venus afflictions (Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam is also associated with Venus, though I don't know the astrological reason).
May We All Seek The Blessings of Lord Parashurama on this Parashurama Jayanti Day On 30-Dec-2012!
With Pranams/Regards,
K. Muralidharan (Murali)