Parashurama (Sanskrit: परशुराम, romanized: Paraśurāma, lit. 'Rama with an axe'), also referred to as Rama Jamadagnya, Rama Bhargava and Virarama, is the sixth avatar among the Dashavatara of the preserver god Vishnu in Hinduism. Hindu tradition holds him to be the destroyer of the evil on Earth. He liberates the Mother Earth from felons, ill-behaved men, extremists, demons and those blind with pride. He is described as one of the Chiranjivi (Immortals), who will appear at the end of the Kali Yuga to be the guru of Vishnu's tenth and last incarnation, Kalki.

Born to Jamadagni and Renuka, the Brahmin Parashurama was foretold to appear at a time when overwhelming evil prevailed on the earth. The Kshatriya caste, with weapons and power, had begun to abuse their power, take what belonged to others by force and tyrannise people. He corrected the cosmic equilibrium by destroying these Kshatriyas twenty-one times (leaving some lineages). He is married to Dharani, an incarnation of Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu.

In the epic Ramayana, he arrives after Sita Swayamvara, upon hearing the loud noise when Rama uplifts and breaks the divine bow Pinaka. He later deduces that Rama is Vishnu himself, he himself asked Rama to destroy the fruits of his austerities. In the Mahabharata, Parashurama, the formidable warrior-sage and sixth avatar of Vishnu, is renowned for his unparalleled martial prowess. While the epic does not explicitly state the exact number of days Parashurama would have taken to conclude the Kurukshetra war, his legendary feats suggest that he could have ended it swiftly.

Given these accounts, it's widely believed in various retellings and interpretations of the Mahabharata that Parashurama possessed the capability to end the Kurukshetra war in a single day. However, he chose not to participate in the battle, adhering to his vow of renunciation and neutrality.

In the epic Mahabharata he was the guru of Bhisma, Drona, Rukmi and Karna.

Parashurama is said to carry various traits including courage, aggression, and warfare along with serenity, patience and prudence. He was known to show his benevolence to Brahmins, children, women, old men and other weaker sections of the society.

According to Hindu history, Parashurama was born to the sage Jamadagni and his Kshatriya wife, Renuka. In local tradition, it is believed they lived in a hut located at Janapav. They had a celestial cow called Surabhi, which gives them all that they desire. A king named Kartavirya Arjuna (not to be confused with Arjuna, the Pandava) learns about this cow of plenty and wants it. He asks Jamadagni to give it to him, but the sage refuses. While Parashurama is away from the hut, the king takes it by force. When Jamadagni pleads his case and seeks for the return of the cow, the king strikes him with his fist, killing him. Parashurama learns about this crime, and is upset. With his axe in his hand, he challenges the king to battle. They fight, and Parashurama defeats and kills the king, according to the Padma Purana.

The wicked-minded one lost his valour due to his own sin. The mighty son of Reṇukā, being angry, cut off his head, as mighty Indra did the peak of a big mountain, and he who was brave and angry, killed Sahasrabāhu and all the kings with his axe in the battle. Seeing Rāma, the very fearful one, all kings on the earth, struck by fear, ran away as elephants do on seeing a lion. The angry Rāma killed the kings even though they had fled due to the resentment against his father's murder, as the angry Garuḍa killed the serpents. The valorous Rāma made the entire [world] clear of the kṣatriyas, but protected [i.e. spared] only the very great family of Ikṣvāku, due to its being the family to which his maternal grandfather was related, and due to his mother's words.