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All the thousand arms were cut off with his axe by Parashurama and ‘the great Haihaya lost his life in the battle. His sons immediately went into the assault. It was no longer a contest between two individuals. The Jamadagnya mounted his chariot and wielding his bow and arrows annihilated all of them. Of the huge army mustered by the Haihavas a few souls escaped the grim fate of their leaders.
Although he had not annihilated all the kshatriyas on the earth he had punished the guilty parties and some of the elders were able to persuade him not to pursue his vow to its terrible logical end. He was also in a mellower mood and decided to take to the jungle and spend his remaining years in penance and to devote his energies to vidyadana, teaching, like a true brahmin. Years passed by, centuries elapsed and then something happened that erupted the volcano again. Some descendant of Vishva mitra proved to be so indiscreet as to publicly mention that Parashurama was a hollow boaster; he never had fulfilled his vow of annihilating the kshatriyas. He was foolish enough to treat Parashurama’s temperance as cowardice.
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