|
Page18
Most legends agree with the story that he retired from the active life of the northern plains and withdrew to the western coast to encourage and help the habitation of, presumably the Aryan tribes along that region. Scholars speculate about whether the name Parashu has anything to do with Persia and whether Parashurama was in fact the leader of several tribes that emigrated from Persia for one cause or another and settled on the western coast, like the Parsees who followed a similar course several centuries later, but unlike the latter adopting totally and fully the religious and social system of their adopted land.
Still others maintain that he led his followers from the northern plains of India itself to settle in this region. However, all these are conjectures and would remain so as long as our knowledge of the successive migrations in this continent remains as fragmentary as it is today. One thing is certain that the Parashurama legend has preserved, albeit in a distorted manner, the memories of a great tribal feud and a resultant resettlement and rehabilitation of one tribe, and that this had something to do with the western coast of the peninsula.
|
