Parashurama or Bhargava Rama - Part VII, History of Chitpavan Konkanastha Brahmins

Parashurama or Bhargava Rama - Part VII, History of Chitpavan Konkanastha Brahmins

Did you know that Parashurama or Bhargava Rama is treated as the the founder and creator of the Chitpavan Konkanastha Brahmins of the region of Parashruma Kshetra in the west coast of India, and they consider themselves as the best and the brightest of the historic brahmin families of Maharashtra?

Parashurama, the axe (Parashu) wielding avatara of Hindu God Lord Vishnu, after exterminating most Kshatriyas of the land came to the west coast of India to settle down, and with blessings of Lord Varuna, god of the Seas, created the Parashurama Kshetra also known as the Konkan region. To expiate his sins, Parashurama reportedly did penance and unable to find Brahmins in the Konkan, created Chitpavan Brahmins by purifying a group of sixty fishermen (14 is also mentioned in some references) of foreign origin who had gathered at a fuenral pyre near the coast. These Brahmins got the name Chita pavanas by the fact that ‘Pavana’ means “pure” and ‘chitta’ meaning “through funeral ashes”. Chiplun village. the place where the fishermen were resuscitated to the position of the mythic brahmins is thus considered the first home of the Chitpavan Brahmans or Konkanastha Brahmins. This place is also known as Lote Parashuram Chiplun. 

Chitapavan also means pure of mind. Ayachak brahmin groups like Chitpavan brahmins, also trace their legendary lineage to Lord Parashurama. The etymology of their name is given in the chapter "citpavanabrhamna.otpattih, i.e " Origin of the Chitpavana Brahmins. The Sanskirt text titled Sahyādrikhaṇḍa which has an exclusive chapeter dealing with the origin of Chitpāvana Brāhmaṇas.

According to folklore, Parashurama after retrieving and claiming Konkan region from the aggressive sea with the help of god Varuna, settled the 14 (40?) fishermen, whom he had restored to life, at Chiplun with sixty ponds (water tanks) and sixty gardens.

Another theory mooted is that when Parashurama almost eliminated the kshatriya race as revenge for killing of his father Jamadagni, some of his followers who fled from the Narmada valley went to the lonely West Coast of India either via Nasik or by sea route via Prabhasa. Then, Parashurama brought woman from the south and northern India and got them married to his followers. It is these political refugees who were the forefathers of the Chitapavans. Thus, in the present day context they are a mixture of northern Indo-Aryans and the southern Dravidians.

Yet, an other argument put forth to the name of Chitpavan is that Sage Bhrigu's descendents who were noted as fire-priests had one way of arranging the sacred fire and were therefore blessed by the Chityagni and hence got the name Chityapavan, later corrupted to Chitpavan. As for the shipwreck and curse in the story, they may signify the infusion of some foreign blood. 

A line of argumentt also says that as Parashurama slaughtered so many warriors that Brahmins had refused to preform rituals on him. In retaliation, Parashurama took the bodies of 14 shipwrecked foreigners (westerners, Europeans or even Jews) he found at Chiplun village on the western coast of India, purified them in a pyre (chita) and restoring their corpses to life. He works this miracle so that he might teach these resuscitated outsiders to preform purification rituals on him. 

It is also said Chitpawans as a community of the Konkan region initially worked as messengers and spies in the late seventeenth century, They came into prominence during the 18th century when the heirs of Peshwa from the Bhat family of Balaji Vishwanath became the de facto rulers of the Maratha empire. Until the 18th century, the Chitpavans were held in low esteem by the Deshastha, the older established Brahmin community of Maharashtra region. 

Eventually, Chitpavans became exemplary purifiers in the sense that they purify god, usurpe the position of the mythic brahmins, and became the best and the brightest of the historic brahmin families. 

Chiplin, on the banks of the Vashisti River, is now large town in Ratnagiri district in the state of Maharashtra with a population of 55,139 (as of 2011 census). Apart fromm its ancient hisrory, Chiplin its histroicity is traced to the Islamic era, Maratha empire and British colonial rule. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence activist, conferred with the title of "Lokmanya", who hailed from the Ratnagiri district, was the most notable Chitpawan Brahmin. In Tilak's memory, Chiplin has the Lokamanya Tilak Smarak Vachan Mandir library and Museum. Chiplin also has one of the few temples that exist dedicated to Lord Parshurama or Bhargavrama. the main temple with syncretic architecture has an idol of Parashuram in middle, God Brahma at right and Lord Shankar (Shiva) on the left. 

 Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the founder of the Hindu nationalist political ideology Hindutva, was a Chitpavan Brahmin. Two major politicians in the Gandhian tradition: Gopal Krishna Gokhale, whom Mahatma Gandhi acknowledged as a preceptor, and Vinoba Bhave, one of his outstanding disciples were also Chitpavan Brahmins. 

A little known information is that Chitpavan Brahmins, the class of Brahmins to which Nathuram Godse also belonged were the main targets of groups committing violence in 1948 following the death of Mahatma Gandhi. Chitpavan Patwardhan family ruled princely states such as Sangli, where the Marathas were joined by the Jains and the Lingayats, suffered the most in the attacks against the Brahmins.

Note: To be continued in the last episode titled: "Parashurama or Bhargava Rama - Part VII, The Parashu (Axe).

Narasipur Char