Jamadagni

At Utpala in Panchala, Vishvamitra performed a sacrifice with Indra — a feat so extraordinary that Parashurama himself recounted his lineage in witness. But the true transformation came at Kanyakubja, where Vishvamitra drank soma with the king of the gods and formally withdrew from the kshatriya class, declaring himself a brahmana.

As Yudhishthira journeys through the wilderness, the sage Lomasha begins describing the sacred sites that lie ahead — places where gods performed austerities, rivers served a rishi, and the Ganga herself splintered a mountain. Each spot carries its own history, and together they form a path that might lead the anxious king to peace.

After the marriage, the sage Bhrigu visits his son Richika and daughter-in-law Satyavati. Delighted, he offers her a boon. She asks for sons for herself and her mother. Bhrigu instructs them to embrace separate trees at their seasons — but they mix up the trees, and the consequences ripple through generations.

Rama, the destroyer of enemy warriors, enters the hermitage last. The great ascetic Jamadagni tells him in great anger: kill your evil mother, without any compassion. Rama grasps his axe and slices off his mother's head. Then Jamadagni's anger is suddenly appeased, and he offers Rama any wishes — which Rama uses to undo everything that was done.

King Kartavirya, drunk on battle, arrives at the hermitage when the sons are away. He rejects the rishi's wife's homage, destroys the hermitage, and steals the sacrificial cow's calf. When Rama returns and learns what happened, he rushes at Kartavirya in fury and slices off his one thousand arms with sharp arrows. But Kartavirya's sons, seeking revenge, attack the hermitage when Rama is absent — and kill the defenseless Jamadagni.

Renuka, rigid in her vows, goes to bathe while her sons gather fruit. She sees King Chitraratha sporting in the water with his wives, garlanded with lotuses — and is filled with desire. She loses her chastity and her senses. When Jamadagni discovers this, he commands each of his four eldest sons to kill their mother. They refuse. In great anger, he curses them to lose their minds and behave like animals or inanimate objects.