Parshuram was born in a Brahmin family of the Bhrigus. His father, Jamadagni, was a sage who performed rituals in exchange for which he received cows. His mother was a princess.

Parshuram is famous for raising his axe  for two reasons. The first time he did so, he beheaded his mother on his father’s orders, because she desired another man. And the second time he raised this axe was to kill the king who tried to steal his father’s cow. In most stories, the man to whom the mother is attracted, and the man who steals the cow is the same, the king, Kartavirya Arjun of the Haihaiya clan.