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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.74.18

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

1.74.18

devais tadā samāgamya sarṣisaṃghaiḥ sacāraṇaiḥ
yācitau praśamaṃ tatra jagmatus tau surottamau

Then the gods, coming together with the hosts of seers and the cāraṇas, entreated them; and there those two chief gods were brought to peace.

Words: devais — by the gods; tadā — then; samāgamya — having come together; sarṣisaṃghaiḥ — with the hosts of seers; sacāraṇaiḥ — with the cāraṇas (celestial minstrels); yācitau — the two (being) entreated; praśamaṃ — to peace, calm; tatra — there; jagmatus — the two went, came to; tau — those two; surottamau — the two chief gods

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.