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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.74.19

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

1.74.19

jṛmbhitaṃ tad dhanur dṛṣṭvā śaivaṃ viṣṇuparākramaiḥ
adhikaṃ menire viṣṇuṃ devāḥ sarṣigaṇās tadā

Seeing that bow of Śiva made to slacken by Viṣṇu's feats of might, the gods, with the hosts of seers, then reckoned Viṣṇu the greater.

Words: jṛmbhitaṃ — made to slacken; tad — that; dhanur — bow; dṛṣṭvā — having seen; śaivaṃ — of Śiva; viṣṇuparākramaiḥ — by Viṣṇu's feats of might; adhikaṃ — greater, superior; menire — reckoned, considered; viṣṇuṃ — Viṣṇu; devāḥ — the gods; sarṣigaṇās — with the hosts of seers; tadā — then

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.