Jamadagni

Jamadagni is a Vedic seer counted among the Saptarishi in the epic and Puranic lists, best known as the father of Parashurama, the axe-bearing avatar of Vishnu.

Tradition/Life

The Puranas make Jamadagni son of the sage Richika and Satyavati of the Kshatriya line, uniting Brahmin and royal descent in his person. He dwells with his wife Renuka at a hermitage in the western hills; the Mahabharata and Puranas tell of the Haihaya king Kartavirya Arjuna’s seizure of the sage’s celestial cow and of the king’s death at Parashurama’s hand, followed by the king’s sons’ murder of Jamadagni and Parashurama’s vow of vengeance. The narratives frame the conflict of Brahmin and Kshatriya orders that Parashurama’s career embodies.

Teachings/Works

Hymns attributed to his line appear in the Vedic collections. Jamadagni appears in epic lists of royal and priestly teachers.

Legacy

Temples to Renuka (his wife, worshipped as a goddess) across the Deccan invoke the family legend; the Jamadagni gotra survives widely.

Verification notes

• The narrative is epic-Puranic; the Vedic attribution is to the family line, not a biographical record.
• Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).