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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.74.14

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 74: Paraśurāma: The two divine bows and the challenge. Paraśurāma ignores Daśaratha’s plea, recounts the rival divine bows and his vengeance, and challenges Rāma to string Viṣṇu’s bow

In the sequence: in an earlier contest, Brahmā set the two Devas against each other to test their strength → Viṣṇu’s “huṃ” sound rendered Śiva motionless and slackened his bow → the Devas restored peace and judged Viṣṇu the stronger

1.74.14

tadā tu devatāḥ sarvāḥ pṛcchanti sma pitāmaham
śitikaṇṭhasya viṣṇoś ca balābalanirīkṣayā

Now once, all the gods asked the Grandsire (Brahmā), out of a wish to test the relative strength of the blue-throated one (Śiva) and of Viṣṇu:

Words: tadā — then, once; tu — now; devatāḥ — the gods; sarvāḥ — all; pṛcchanti sma — asked; pitāmaham — the Grandsire (Brahmā); śitikaṇṭhasya — of the blue-throated one (Śiva); viṣṇoś — of Viṣṇu; ca — and; balābalanirīkṣayā — out of a wish to examine their relative strength

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.