← 1.74.20 · Bāla Kāṇḍa 74: Paraśurāma: The two divine bows and the challenge · 1.74.22 →

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.74.21

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

1.74.21

idaṃ ca viṣṇavaṃ rāma dhanuḥ parapuraṃjayam
ṛcīke bhārgave prādād viṣṇuḥ sa nyāsam uttamam

And this bow of Viṣṇu, O Rāma, conqueror of enemy cities — Viṣṇu gave it to Ṛcīka the Bhārgava as a precious deposit.

Words: idaṃ — this; ca — and; viṣṇavaṃ — of Viṣṇu, Vaiṣṇava; rāma — O Rāma; dhanuḥ — bow; parapuraṃjayam — conqueror of enemy cities; ṛcīke — to Ṛcīka; bhārgave — the Bhārgava; prādād — gave; viṣṇuḥ — Viṣṇu; sa — he, that; nyāsam — a deposit, trust; uttamam — excellent, precious

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.