Kartavirya Arjuna

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In Hinduism, King Kartavirya Arjuna and his army visited a rishi named Jamadagni, who fed his guest and the whole army with his divine cow. The king demanded the cow; Jamadagni refused because he needed the cow for his religious ceremonies. King Kartavirya Arjuna sent his soldiers to take the cow. Parashurama (Jamadagni's son and Avatara of Vishnu) killed the entire army and the king with the axe given to him by Shiva. In return, the princes beheaded Jamadagni. In revenge, Parashurama killed the entire clan of Kartavirya Arjuna, thus conquering the entire earth, which he gave to Kashyapa.

Kartavirya Arjuna belonged to the dark period when the Kshatriyas forgot their duties and behaved very arrogantly, blinded with lust and power. Parushurama was one of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, who has assumed the human form to put an end to this Kshatriya menace. Kartavirya Arjuna is believed to have a thousand arms.

Encounter with Ravana

His power is popularly told in a folklore. Once when Kartavirya Arjuna was once having a bath in a river along with his wives, when he stopped the force of the river with his thousand arms from both the sides. Ravana (the Lord of Lanka) who was camping by the banks of the river was furious over this. Enraged, he challenged the former for a combat. Ravana was comprehensively defeated and was put to humilation. Such was the power of Kartavirya Arjuna. But his arms could not withstand the massacre of Parashurama's axe in the end.

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