{"product_id":"other-rama","title":"Other Rāma","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA systematic analysis of the myth cycle of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eParaśurāma\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e (\"Rāma with the Axe\"), an \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eavatára \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eof V\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eiṣṇu \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ewith a much darker reputation.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Other Rāma\u003c\/i\u003e presents a systematic analysis of the myth cycle of Paraśurāma (\"Rāma with the Axe\"), an \u003ci\u003eavatára\u003c\/i\u003e of Viṣṇu best known for decapitating his own mother and annihilating twenty-one generations of the Katriya warrior caste in an extermination campaign frequently referred to as \"genocide\" by modern scholars. Compared to Rāma and Ka, the other human forms of Viṣṇu, Paraśurāma has a much darker reputation, with few temples devoted to him and scant worshippers. He has also attracted far less scholarly attention. But dozens of important castes and clans across the subcontinent claim Paraśurāma as the originator of their bloodline, and his mother, Reukā, is worshipped in the form of a severed head throughout South India.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUsing the tools of comparative mythology and psychoanalysis, Brian Collins identifies three major motifs in the mythology of Paraśurāma: his hybrid status as a Brahmin warrior, his act of matricide, and his bloody one-man war to cleanse the earth of Katriyas. Collins considers a wide variety of representations of the myth, from its origins in the \u003ci\u003eMahābhārata\u003c\/i\u003e to contemporary debates online. He also examines Paraśurāma alongside the Wandering Jew of European legend and \u003ci\u003ePsycho\u003c\/i\u003e's matricidal serial killer Norman Bates. He examines why mythmakers once elevated this transgressive and antisocial figure to the level of an \u003ci\u003eavatāra\u003c\/i\u003e and why he still holds such fascination for a world that continues to grapple with mass killings and violence against women.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"State University of New York Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54410279944536,"sku":"9781438480381","price":36.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781438480381_dd1091dd-7999-499d-8312-09e1a31fc945.jpg?v=1778656560","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/other-rama","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}