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{{Refimprove|date=October 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox deity
| image = Jamadagni telling Parasuram about kartyaveerarjun.jpg
| affiliation = [[Saptarishi]]
| alt = Jamadagni
| caption = Jamadagni telling about the Kartyaveerarjuna fault to Parashurama
| parents =Ruchik Muni (father)<br>Satyavati, daughter of [[Gaadhi|King Gaadhi]] (mother)<ref name="Kapoor2004" />
| spouse = [[Renuka]]
| children = Vasu, Viswa Vasu, Brihudyanu, Brutwakanwa and [[Parashurama]]
| type = Hindu
}}
According to [[Hindu mythology|Hindu legends]], '''Jamadagni''' (or '''Jamdagni''', {{lang-sa|जमदग्नि}}; Pali: ''Yamataggi'') is one of the [[Saptarishi]]s (Seven Great Sages [[Rishi]]) in the seventh, current [[Manvantara]]. He is the father of [[Parashurama]], the sixth incarnation of [[Vishnu]].<ref name="Tantra">Avalon, Arthur ([[John Woodroffe|Sir John Woodroffe]]) (1913, reprint 1972) (tr.) ''Tantra of the Great Liberation (Mahāanirvāna Tantra)'', New York: Dover Publications, {{ISBN|0-486-20150-3}}, p. xli: The Rishi are seers who know, and by their knowledge are the makers of shastra and "see" all mantras. The word comes from the root rish ''Ri''sh''ati-prāpnoti sarvvang mantrang jnānena pashyati sangsārapārangvā'', etc. The seven great Rishi or [[saptarshi]] of the first manvantara are '''Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulaha, Kratu, Pulastya, and Vashishtha'''. In other manvantara there are other ''sapta-rshi''. In the present manvantara the seven are '''Kashyapa''', ''Atri, Vashishtha, Vishvamitra, Gautama, Jamdagnini, Bharadvaja''. To the Rishi the Vedas were revealed. Vyasa taught the Rigveda so revealed to Paila, the Yajurveda to Vaishampayana, the Samaveda to Jaimini, Atharvaveda to Samantu, and Itihasa and Purana to Suta. The three chief classes of Rishi are the ''Brahmarshi'', born of the mind of Brahma, the ''Devarshi'' of lower rank, and ''Rajarshi'' or Kings who became Rishis through their knowledge and austerities, such as Janaka, Ritaparna, etc. Thc ''Shrutarshi'' are makers of Shastras, as Sushruta. The ''Kandarshi'' are of the Karmakanda, such as Jaimini.</ref> He was a descendant of the sage [[Bhrigu]], one of the [[Prajapatis]] created by [[Brahma]], the God of Creation. Jamadagni had five children with wife [[Renuka]], the youngest of whom was [[Parashurama]], an [[avatar]] of Lord [[Vishnu]]. Jamadagni was well versed in the scriptures and weaponry without formal instruction.

==Birth ==

According to the Bhagavata Purana, sage Richika was asked by King Gadhi to bring thousand white horses with black ears to marry Satyavati. Richika with the help of [[Varuna]] brought those horses and the king allowed Richika to marry Satyavati.

After their marriage, Satyavti and her mother demanded from Richika the blessings for having a son. In accordance the sage prepared two meals of milk boiled rice for each, one with Brahma mantra (for Satyavati) and other with Kshatri mantra (for his mother in law). Giving the meals he went to perform his ablutions. Meanwhile, Satyavati's mother asked her daughter to take her meal and give Satyavati's meal to her. Her daughter followed her order. When Richika came to know about this exchange he said that the child born of his mother in law would be a great Brahmana, but his son would become a terrible warrior. Satyavati prayed that her son would remain a calm sage but her grandson should be such an angry warrior. Thus Jamadagni was born from Satyavati who was a sage, but Jamadagni's son [[Parashurama]] was a terrible and angry warrior. On the other hand, Gadhi's wife gave birth to [[Vishwamitra]], who was Kshattriya by birth but later became a Brahmana. <ref>Bhagavata Purana Skandha 9 chapter 15-16</ref>

==Early life==

Jamadagni was the son of Ruchik, son of Aurva, son of Apravana, son of [[Chyavana]], son of [[Bhrigu]].

A descendant of sage [[Atri|Bhrigu]], Jamadagni literally meaning consuming fire. Vitahavya was a king but became Brahmaṇa under the influence of Bhrigus. His son, Saryati, was a great king. The Mahabharata refers to King Saryati as one of the greatest kings (24 kings) of the pre-Mahabharata.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chronology of india from manu to Mahabharata|isbn=978-8194321309|pages=36–37}}</ref> Chyavana was the contemporary of King Kuśanābha. They had a son called Urva. Rishi Richika was born to Aurava, a son of Urva, and he married Satyavatī, sister of King Gādhi. Jamadagni was born to Richīka and Satyavati, daughter of Kshatriyariya king Gaadhi.<ref name="Kapoor2004">{{cite book|author=Subodh Kapoor|title=A Dictionary of Hinduism: Including Its Mythology, Religion, History, Literature, and Pantheon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJ6O8nwsFWgC&pg=PA185|year=2004|publisher=Cosmo Publications|isbn=978-81-7755-874-6|pages=185–}}</ref> Growing up he studied hard and achieved erudition on the Veda. He acquired the science of weapons without any formal instruction. His father, Richika had guided him though. The Aushanasa Dhanurveda which is now lost, is about a conversation between Jamadagni and Ushanas or [[Shukracharya]] on the exercises of warfare. Rishi Jamdagni went to King Prasenjit, of solar dynasty or ''Suryavansha'', and asked for his daughter Renuka's hand in marriage. Subsequently, they (Jamdagni and Renuka Mata) were married, and the couple had five sons Vasu, Viswa Vasu, Brihudyanu, Brutwakanwa and Bhadrarama, later known as Parshurama.<ref name="Kapoor2004" /><ref name="Williams2003">{{cite book|author=George Mason Williams|title=Handbook of Hindu Mythology|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9791576071068|url-access=registration|year=2003|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-106-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9791576071068/page/160 160]–161}}</ref><ref name="BonnefoyDoniger1993">{{cite book|author1=Yves Bonnefoy|author2=Wendy Doniger|title=Asian Mythologies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r4I-FsZCzJEC&pg=PA83|year=1993|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-06456-7|pages=82–83}}</ref>

==Legend of Jamdagni==
{{unreferenced section|date=February 2017}}
{{Hinduism}}
According to the [[Mahabharat]], Jamadagni once became annoyed with the sun god Surya for making too much heat. The warrior-sage shot several arrows into the sky, terrifying Surya. Surya then appeared before the rishi as a Brahmin and gave him two inventions that helped mankind deal with his heat - sandals and an umbrella. <ref>http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m13/m13b061.htm</ref>

[[Renuka]] was a devoted wife. So powerful was her chastity, that she used to fetch water from the river in a pot made of unbaked clay every day, held together only by the power of her devotion to Jamadagni.

One day while at the river, a group of [[Gandharvas]] passed by in the sky above in a chariot. Filled with desire for only a moment, the unbaked pot that she was carrying dissolved into the river. Afraid to go back to her husband, she waited at the river bank.

Meanwhile, Jamadagni noticed that his wife had not yet returned from the river. Through his yogic powers, he divined all that had taken place and was filled with rage. Jamadagni called his eldest son, told him what had happened, and asked him to execute his mother. Horror-stricken, his son refused to perform this deed. He then asked all of his sons, and as they refused, he turned them one by one to stone. Finally, only his youngest son, [[Parashurama]], was left. Ever-obedient and righteous, Parashurama went to behead his mother{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}{{Explain|date=June 2021}}. Renuka was then hiding with a fisherman and his wife. To complete the deed, Parashurama killed the brave fisherman who went to fight him. After that, he beheaded the wife and then Renuka{{Clarify|date=June 2021}}.

Pleased, Jamadagni offered two boons to Parashurama. Parashurama asked that his mother be restored to life and his brothers to be turned from stone back to flesh. Impressed by his son's devotion and affection, Jamadagni granted the boons. His brothers were reformed from stone without having the memory of experiencing death as an additional wish of Parashurama. With the holy water, Parashurama bound the head of the fisherman back to the fisherman's body. Excited at seeing how it had succeeded, he bound the women's heads to their bodies. After they ere resurrected, he had noticed that he had switched the bodies. Now both women were unchaste as the fact that their body or head would have had to been unchaste for the other to be chaste. Jamdagni then blessed them to be called goddesses. Thus we know her as Renuka Devi, and her assistant - companion, the fisherman's wife. The purpose of this trial was to demonstrate the dharma ("rightful duty") of a son towards his father.

== Decedents/Family ==
The Sampangirama family is one of the many families that contains the decedents of Jamadagni. The Sampangirama family goes by many last names, the most notable being Sampangirama, Nagar, and Rao. The Sampangirama family follows the pravara (bloodline): Bhargava, Chyavana, Apnavana, Aurva, Jamadagni, Parashurama. Majority of the Sampangirama family lives in the state of Karnataka.

==Death==
Jamadagni was later visited by the [[Haihayas|Haihaya]] king [[Kartavirya Arjuna]] (who was said to have thousand arms/hands), who he served a feast using a divine cow called [[Kamdhenu]]. Wanting the Divine Cow "Kamdhenu" for himself, the king offered wealth to Jamadagni which he refused. Then the king forcefully took the Kamdhenu with him asking Jamadagni to take it back if possible, but by the means of war, which Jamadagni was not willing to.

Knowing this fact and enraged, Parashurama killed the king, and retrieved the Kamdhenu by killing all of the army of the king [[Kartavirya Arjuna]] by himself alone. Later, three sons of the king killed Jamdagni because he was the father of Parashurama who had killed their father, that felt them the proper revenge of eye-for-an-eye. They first stabbed Jamdagni twenty-one times and then sliced his head.

Again enraged, Parashurama killed all three brothers and retrieved the head of his father for cremation, and ultimately enacted a genocide on the [[kshatriya]] caste throughout the world for the next twenty-one generations since his mother beat her chest twenty-one times resembling a low-born in mourning after his father was stabbed by the miscreants.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mani|first=Vettam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mvXsDwAAQBAJ&q=Jamadagni&pg=PP5|title=Puranic Encyclopedia: A Comprehensive Work with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature|date=2015-01-01|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0597-2|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Lochtefeld|first=James G.|url=http://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch|title=The illustrated encyclopedia of Hinduism|date=2002|publisher=New York : Rosen|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-8239-2287-1}}</ref>

==Buddhism==
In the Buddhist [[Vinaya Pitaka]] section of the ''Mahavagga'' (I.245)<ref>P. 494 ''The Pali-English dictionary'' By Thomas William Rhys Davids, William Stede</ref> the Buddha pays respect to Jamadagni by declaring that the Vedas ( Shruti's) in their true form were revealed to the original Vedic rishis, including Jamadagni.<ref>P. 245 ''The Vinaya piṭakaṃ: one of the principle Buddhist holy scriptures ..., Volume 1'' edited by Hermann Oldenberg</ref><ref>The Vinaya Pitaka's section ''Anguttara Nikaya: Panchaka Nipata'', P. 44 ''The legends and theories of the Buddhists, compared with history and science'' By Robert Spence Hardy</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Rishis of Hindu mythology}}
{{HinduMythology}}
{{Rigveda}}

[[Category:Rishis]]

Jamadagni - Revision history

>245CMR at 11:25, 30 June 2021