Brahma: Not so, the other day Vishnu was telling that he alone did that master task...

Shiva: How can it be! In the triple of doer-deed-instrument, instrument cannot become the doer... has his language gone topsy-turvy, noun is becoming verb and verb is lost to adjective and...

Brahma: Ok, Ok... we do not care much for grammar as we care more for communication, grammar is paNini's headache... but what he said is that he alone did it... not you...

Shiva: Then why I am called... why that longbow is given to me... you have got it done by Vishnu... you have unnecessarily spoiled my dance program...

Brahma: Not that... I said what he said... let's not quarrel among ourselves...

Shiva: I not only quarrel but wage war, if it comes to my interests and my devotees' interest... how many times I have not done so...

Brahma: That is what Vishnu was telling... every time you give a boon to every demon, and involve yourself in enmeshment, and Vishnu has come to come and rescue... have he forgotten the episode of bhasmaasura... thus Vishnu is saying and asking...

Shiva: Now I don't tolerate... I will take him to task...

Exit Shiva - Enter Vishnu. Brahma reverses the above dialogue and says that to Vishnu

Vishnu: No, No, highly objectionable... I will take him to task... I will take him to task...

Exit All. War Started.

"Owing to their animosity then occurred a fierce and hair-raising war among Shiva and Vishnu, as each aspired victory for himself... By the 'hum' sound of Vishnu that ruinously overpowering longbow of Shiva is broken, and the triple-eyed God, Mahadeva, is frozen...

The bow is jR^imbhitam broken by the hum in dissent of Vishnu - Govindaraja. And Maheshvara Tiirtha says that the bow as well as Shiva are rendered jaDa motionless. There are many legends on this shiva garva bhanga 'deflation of Shiva's pride' and some info about is given in endnote.

"Then gods along with the assemblages of sages and celestial carana-s have come together and appealed to those two for appeasement in the matter of wielding authority, and then those two superior gods, Shiva and Vishnu, went into a state of amity... On seeing the bow of Shiva rendered inert by the mettlesomeness of Vishnu, from then on the gods along with the assemblages of sages deemed Vishnu to be the paramount... That celebrated Rudra on his part with indignation has handed over that longbow, which is already fitted with unloosened arrow, to the sagely king among Videha kings, namely Devaraata...

This longbow of Shiva is reported as given after the devastation of the ritual of Daksha Prajaapati, the father of Sati and the father-in-law of Shiva as said at 1-66-9: dakSa yaj~na vadhe puurvam dhanuH aayamya viiryavaan | This ritual of Daksha is a composite of many problems. Shiva neither as god nor as the son-in-law of Daksha is invited to that ritual, Shiva's consort Sati self-immolates herself in the her father's ritual, Viira Bhadra and other deputies of Shiva depredate that ritual, and this shiva keshava yuddha 'duelling of Shiva and Vishnu...' happens... all to show - a single person's disinterestedness ruins even a holy marriage. Here Daksha was uninterested to give his daughter Sati in marriage to Shiva.

"Oh, Rama, this alone is that enemy-citadel conquering longbow of Vishnu, and Vishnu handed over this to Sage Riciika, the son of Bhrigu, as a trustworthy trust... That great-resplendent Sage Riciika on his part has handed over this divine bow to his son with unmatchable deeds of religious merit, who is my father Sage Jamadagni...

The word of Jamadagni means 'one who is born in Ritual-fire and having fire as his anima...' j˜jamadya jaj˜ne aham jajahŸ ha jaj˜yiÿŸ | jamadagni× iti khy˜tam tatio m˜ viddhi þobhane || where the word jajaamanta is 'those who devour oblations repeatedly and at a single time in Vedic-rituals, namely gods; jamu - bhakshane so I am jajiihi because I sprang up from Ritual-fire... and when the first syllable in ja jaamat is dropped it remained as jamat and when combined with fire jamat agni it shortened after dropping matup pratyaya to become jamadagni so oh, lady know me as one born and having Ritual-fire... or, Vedic-ritual itself...'

"Adhering to a barbarous mentality Kaartvaviirya Arjuna put my father to death, when the ascetically powerful father of mine has isolated himself from arsenal... Oh, Rama, on hearing the unregenerate and highly perfidious murdering of my father, I rancorously extirpated Kshatriya-s as and when they are born, that too not for one time, but I did so for thirty-seven times going around the earth... and on getting the entire earth under my control I performed Vedic-ritual, and at the end of that Vedic-ritual, I gave all that earth to sage Kashyapa, a sage with divine soul and with pious observances, as a ritualistic-generosity... and I am at present on Mt. Mahendra practising ascesis and thus conjoined are the powers of ascesis in me...

"On hearing about the breakage of Shiva's longbow, then I promptly came here. Thereby, oh, Rama, wield this supernatural and superlative longbow of Vishnu, which is passed on to me from my forefathers and my father. Keep your fealty to Kshatriya-hood in view, and wield this as you have wielded Shiva's longbow...

"Take an aim with an arrow that conquers enemy's citadels fixing it on this supramundane longbow... and oh, Kakutstha, should you be capable of it, thereafter I will give you a duel...

.

The odds between Vishnu and Shiva

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This is a long drawn bloody quarrel between the two sects of vaiSNavism Vishnu faith and shaivism Shiva faith, over centuries. Here it is doubtlessly expressed in the epic that Vishnu is superior to Shiva. anena þiv˜t viÿõo× utkarÿa× pratip˜ditam - ayam eva artha× | dk 'by this Vishnu is proposed to be superior to Shiva...' but it does not mean 'every time or everlastingly...' Insofar as the incarnations are concerned, it is Vishnu, but not Shiva. In philosophy, both are one and in theology, they are separate. s®ÿ÷i sthiti anta k˜raõ˜t brahma viþõu þiv˜tmik˜m | sa sanjñ˜m y˜ti bhagav˜n eka eva jan˜rdana× || viþõu pur˜õa api cet samaram pr˜pya bhaviÿyasi m˜m adhika× | bh˜rata - droõa parva ekam eva advitŸyam brahma - sat eva saumaya idam agram assŸt - sarvam khalvidam brahma - brahm˜ v˜ idam agra asŸt - hiraõya garbha samavartata agre - antar bahi× ca tat sarvam vy˜pya n˜r˜yaõa sthita× - eka eva rudro na dvitŸy˜ya tasthe - ekam sad vipr˜ bnahudh˜ vadanti ekam santam bahudh˜ kalpayanti - abedha þruti where the last one is 'when there is only one Absolute wise men and poets create many of his forms...' to explain in ordinary parlance, that too through Puraana-s. This is because of the complexity of Vedas. In fact, Vedas do not tell anything straightaway 'this god, that is god...' but asks us, rather intuits us, to infer ourselves about the nature of god, according to our own IQ. And to be precise, Vedic gods are different from Puranic gods and Veda holds on to one Brahman, or The Absolute. The Rain-god, Fire-god, Indra et al are the instrumental gods in knowing that Absolute. The content of Vedas is just like the complexity of complex video game of present day. The more you play you either get yourself addicted to it, or shun it, or get demented by it.

Vedas go on saying pure truths in plain terms like: þam na× s¨rya urucakÿu udaitu þam nþcatasra× pradŸpto bhavantu | þam na× dhruvayo bhavantu na× sindhava× þamu san santi ˜pa× || ®gveda 7-35-8 - 'Bless that the sun, with extensive radiance, Rises for peace. May the four quarters of horizon, Be auspicious for peace and harmony...' What is so great about the sun or his radiance? If we persist in asking why this is said like that, then a dozen other quotes will be brought in to explain the idea behind it. Again another hymn: sahasra þŸrÿ˜ puruÿa× sahasr˜kÿa sahasra p˜t | ®gved 10-90-1 - 'He has thousands of heads, He has thousands of eyes...' It would be ridiculous to think of a god with thousands of heads and thousands of eyes, but if it is explained 'He has thousands of heads, to think about mankind, and he has thousands of eyes to watch over the good and bad deeds of mankind... it may be meaningful. Max Muller has this to say about the study of Vedas:

Of course, this learning of Vedas by heart is carried on under a strict discipline; it is, in fact, considered as a sacred duty. A native friend of mine... tells me that a boy, who is to be brought up as a student of Rig Veda, has to spend about eight years in the house of his teacher. He has to learn ten books: first, the hymns of Rig ved; then a prose treatise on sacrifices, called the braahmaNa; then the so-called Forest book or aranyaka; then the rules of domestic ceremonies; and lastly, six treatises on pronunciation, grammar, etymology, metre, astronomy, and ceremonial...' India can it what teach us, by Max Muller - a recent republication of Penguin.

This is on par with the four-legged dharma, The Holy Bull, nandi loosing its legs one after the other and now you will see that Bull in any sculpture with half raised right foreleg, where other three went under its belly.

So Puraana-s are evolved to throw some light on what Vedas have to say, of course with some religious overtones. Elsewhere we have detailed about Puraana-s of them Shiva and Vishnu Puraana-s are though prominent, but their adherers quarrel tooth and nail about the superiority of Shiva or Vishnu. In Vishnu Puraana many instances of coalescence of Vishnu with Shiva are narrated tvat v˜kya gaurav˜t etat may˜ cakram nivartitam | tvay˜ yat abhayam dattam tat datttam akhilam may˜ - Krishna says to Shiva at the time of eliminating a demon called Baana Asura, 'As you say I have taken back my disc, and if you give a boon I deem all that is given by me...' So many instances can be quoted like this. But here Parashu Rama has no intention to kill Dasharatha Rama, as said in Padma Puraana: rarakÿa bhagav˜n - bh˜rgava r˜ma× - ekam ikÿv˜kostu mah˜ kulam | m˜t˜mahasya anvayatv˜t reõuk˜ vacan˜t tath˜ | 'that god Bhaargava Rama safeguarded one great dynasty of Ikshvaku-s, for they are related to his grandmother, besides at the request of Renuka Devi, his mother...' So, god Bhaargava Rama is a nepotist and saved Dasharatha Rama. Not so, Bhaargava Rama is neither a nepotist nor a god to be worshipped. He is not worshipped because his incarnation is not a full incarnation of Vishnu as Dasharatha Rama. Only the wrathful impetuosity of Vishnu is incarnated like Bhaargava Rama to perform butchery and even infanticide. bh˜rgavo ati d®pta× prasiddha× tad˜nŸm ca krodha andha iti sva kÿatriya vadh˜t upratam þastra sanny˜sam ca parityajya capala iti vidita× 'Bhaargava Rama is a highly impudent personality and blinded by his wrath, thus to eliminate his own Kshatriya-s [namely his own relatives, Dasharatha and his sons; again the caste system is peeping in, isn't it!] On overstepping his pledge of renunciation of weaponry, he came... hence his actions are faltering...' appayaa diikshita, a shaivaite. He came here to perform certain unsaid action, which we will see in next episode.