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## Chapter 126: The Scattering of Eager Refusal
**5. The Story of Parashurama, Included in the **Shree Trishatishalakapurushacharitra** **Under the Cycle of the Great Earth Emperor**
The story of the eighth in the lineage of the Great Earth Emperor, who was a Tirthankara, will be told, as it was created by Arati.
1. In the land of Bharata, in the great city, there was a king named Bhupala, who protected the Kshatriya vows.
2. He was defeated in a battle by many enemies who had united, a stronger force.
3. Defeated by his enemies, his face stained with the dirt of humiliation, he took refuge in the feet of the Muni and embraced the life of a wandering ascetic.
4. He ended his enjoyment of kingship and, as a result of his penance, became a celestial being in the realm of the great Shukra.
5. From him, a son was born, named Kuru, after whom the land of Kuru was named. His son was named Hastin, after whom Hastinapur was named.
6. Hastinapur was the birthplace of the Tirthankara, the Great Earth Emperor.
7. From him, a great-armed king named Anantavirya ruled there.
8. In the land of Bharata, in the city of Vasantpur, there was a man named Agni, whose lineage had been cut off.
9. He left that place and traveled to another land, carrying goods and wandering. He reached the hermitage of a sage.
10. The sage took Agni as his son and he became known as Jamadagni in the world.
11. He practiced intense penance, like a fire burning brightly, his brilliance unbearable on the earth.
12. At that time, the celestial being Vaishvanara, who was known by that name in his previous birth, and Dhanvantari, a devotee of the sages, argued.
13. One said that the right to food was the only dharma, while the other said that the right to food was determined by the sages.
14. In this dispute between the sages, they decided to have a test.
15. They said, "Whoever is the most inferior in the worthy, and whoever is the most superior among the sages, should be tested. By what qualities do they surpass each other?"
16. At that time, in the city of Mithila, adorned with nine virtues, a noble man named Padmaratha was traveling on the earth.
17. He was a sage who was about to receive initiation at the end of the Vasu Puja. While traveling to Champapuri, he saw those two celestial beings on the path.
18. Desiring to test them, the king offered them food and drink. Though thirsty and hungry, they remained steadfast in their resolve, their minds unwavering.
19. The king, with cruel thorns like a crab, inflicted pain on the soft lotus feet of the two celestial beings.
20. Blood flowed from their feet, but even in such a difficult journey, they walked as gracefully as a feather.
21. They did not react to the king's insults, songs, and dances, just as a divine weapon is ineffective against its own lineage.
22. Appearing before him in the form of the sons of Siddhas, they said, "O great one, you have many years left to live.
23. Enjoy your pleasures freely. What is the use of penance in youth? Who, even if industrious, would do their work at night and in the morning?