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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.74.17

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

1.74.17

tadā taj jṛmbhitaṃ śaivaṃ dhanur bhīmaparākramam
huṃkāreṇa mahādevaḥ stambhito 'tha trilocanaḥ

Then that bow of Śiva, of fearsome might, was made to slacken; and by a “huṃ” (of Viṣṇu) the Great God, the three-eyed one, was thereupon rendered rigid.

Words: tadā — then; taj — that; jṛmbhitaṃ — made to slacken, made to gape; śaivaṃ — of Śiva; dhanur — bow; bhīmaparākramam — of fearsome might; huṃkāreṇa — by the sound ‘huṃ’; mahādevaḥ — the Great God (Śiva); stambhito — paralyzed, made rigid; 'tha — then; trilocanaḥ — the three-eyed one

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.