Once upon a time long ago, Lord Vishnu was born to a sage called Jamadagni and his wife Renuka. He was known as Parashurama or Bhrigupati. He was very expert in the art of fighting and could wield any weapon easily.
One day, the king Kartaviryarjuna came to the hermitage of Jamadagni and had his meal there.
Thanking the sage for the tasty meal, the king asked, "I have never tasted such delicious food before. Who has prepared it?"
When he learnt that the heavenly cow Kamadhenu was living there and supplying the sage all that he needed, the king took away the cow by force.
Kamadhenu is a cow who can give her master anything he wants. When Parashurama heard of how the king had stolen Kamdhenu, he went after Kartaviryarjuna and killed him. He brought back Kamadhenu to the hermitage.
When the rulers of the earth became evil and cruel, Parashurama grew very angry and killed twenty one generations of these evil kings and rulers who only brought sorrow and bad luck to their citizens.
The sons of Kartaviryarjuna killed Jamadagni to avenge the death of their father. Lord Parashurama was gifted a bow by Lord Shiva and he used this weapon against the kings. Then he left for the forest to seek pardon for the killing of so many kings.
Later, he met Prince Rama of Ayodhya.