Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 9.15.30
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesThe Lord Alone Defeats Vast Armies
“Upon seeing Paraśurāma, Kārtavīryārjuna immediately feared him and sent many elephants, chariots, horses and infantry soldiers equipped with clubs, swords, arrows, ṛṣṭis, śataghnis, śaktis, and many similar weapons to fight against him. Kārtavīryārjuna sent seventeen full akṣauhiṇīs of soldiers to check Paraśurāma. But Lord Paraśurāma alone killed all of them.”
What the purport teaches
- Kārtavīryārjuna feared Paraśurāma and sent seventeen full akṣauhiṇīs against him. The forces included elephants, chariots, horses and heavily armed infantry.
- The purport explains that one akṣauhiṇī contains 21,870 chariots, the same number of elephants, 109,350 infantry soldiers and 65,610 horses.
- Despite the enormous size of this force, Lord Paraśurāma alone killed all of them. The military counts help us appreciate the scale of his victory.
Try this today
Write one sentence contrasting the seventeen akṣauhiṇīs with Lord Paraśurāma standing alone.
Ask yourself
How does learning the size of an akṣauhiṇī deepen your appreciation of Lord Paraśurāma’s power?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.