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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.74.20

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: Śiva entrusted his bow to Devarāta → Viṣṇu entrusted the other to Ṛcīka, who passed it to Jamadagni, Paraśurāma's father

1.74.20

dhanū rudras tu saṃkruddho videheṣu mahāyaśāḥ
devarātasya rājarṣer dadau haste sasāyakam

But Rudra, greatly renowned and angered, gave his bow, together with its arrow, into the hand of the royal seer Devarāta among the Videhas.

Words: dhanū — the bow; rudras — Rudra; tu — but; saṃkruddho — angered; videheṣu — among the Videhas; mahāyaśāḥ — greatly renowned; devarātasya — of Devarāta; rājarṣer — of the royal seer; dadau — gave; haste — into the hand; sasāyakam — together with its arrow

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.