||om tat sat ||

राम दाशरथे राम वीर्यं ते श्रूयतेsद्भुतम्।
धनुषो भेदनं चैव निखिलेन मया श्रुतम् ॥

"Oh Rama ! Son of Dasaratha! I heard about your great strength. I heard all about your breaking of the bow."

Balakanda
Sarga Seventy Five

Prasurama addressed SriRama and spoke as follows:

"Oh Rama ! Son of Dasaratha! I heard about your great strength. I heard all about your breaking of the celebrated Siva's bow. That you have broken the bow is unbelievable and astonishing. Having heard that I brought another superb and auspicious bow. This belongs to Jamadangi and it is a fearsome yet great bow. You can string an arrow and show me your strength. Oh Raghava ! If you, of acclaimed prowess, are able to string an arrow I will grant you a chance to duel with me".

King Dasaratha hearing those words of Parasurama known for his prowess in destroying Kshatriyas spoke with folded hands and a grief stricken face . " Oh Celebrated one ! You are a Brahmana, man of great fame, with anger of killing Kshatriyas having subsided, you are capable of giving protection to my sons who are mere boys. You are born into the line of Bhargavas who are consistently devoted to discipline and studies. You have taken a vow with Indra to give up arms. You followed the right path and gave away all the kingdom to Kasyapa and moved to Mahendragiri. Oh great sage ! It seems like you have come to destroy all I have. Without Rama none of us can stay alive".

Even as Dasaratha was speaking thus, without paying attention to him that son of Jamadagni again spoke to SriRama.

"These two celestial bows are known to be the best of all, powerful, strong and renowned. The one broken by you is the one given to Parameswara by the Devas for the destruction of Tripura. The second one which is undefeatable is that of Vishnu which is also given by the Devas. Oh Rama this bow of Vishnu is most resplendent one. Oh Kakutstha ! this is equal to the bow of Siva in all respects. Then the Devas wanted to know the power of Siva and Vishnu and questioned Brahma. Knowing the mind of Devas Brahma created a rivalry between the two. With both wanting to remain victorious, there was a great battle between the two. Then with a big snort from Vishnu the most powerful Siva's bow became powerless. The three eyed one was stunned. Then the Devas along with the legion of sages got together and made peace between the two. Seeing the powerless bow of Siva the Devas concluded that Vishnu is the powerful one. Then the angered Siva gave away his bow to the king of Videha , a Rajarshi and a highly acclaimed one by name Devarata. O Rama! This bow which can destroy cities was given as a trust to Ruchika belonging to Bhargava clan. The most illustrious Ruchika gave it to my father Jamadagni who has no enemies . The evil minded Kartaviryarjuna killed my father who is repository of power of penance and who has sacrificed his arms".

"Hearing about the vicious killing of my father in anger, I killed all the Kshatriyas as soon as they were born several times. Thus having conquered the whole earth, I gave the same as a gift to Kasyapa. Then moved to Mahendragiri frequented by Devas. Performing penance and acquiring the power of penance, I was living happily".

" O Powerful one ! O Rama , hearing that with incomparable valor you have broken the bow I have come here. This bow having come from my forefathers is a great one. You may take this bow of Vishnu as the duty of a Kshatriya".

"O Kakutstha ! You string an arrow into this best of bows . Oh Kakutstha if you are able to do that I will grant you a permission to battle with me on one on one basis".

Thus the seventy fifth Sarga of Balakanda comes to an end

||ओम् तत् सत्॥

योजयस्व धनुः श्रेष्ठे शरं परपुरंजयम्।
यदि शक्नोषि काकुत्‍स्थ द्वंद्वं दास्यामि ते ततः ॥

"O Kakutstha ! You string an arrow into this best of bows . Oh Kakutstha if you are able to do that I will grant you a permission to battle with me on one on one basis".

||Om tat sat ||