राम दाशरथे राम वीर्यं ते श्रूयतेऽद्भुतम्।
धनुषो भेदनं चैव निखिलेन मया श्रुतम्॥
rāma dāśarathe rāma vīryaṁ te śrūyate ’dbhutam
dhanuṣo bhedanaṁ caiva nikhilena mayā śrutam
rāma = O Rāma; dāśarathe = O son of Daśaratha; rāma = O Rāma; vīryam te śrūyate adbhutam = Your wonderful prowess is known; dhanuṣaḥ bhedanam = Your breaking [Lord Śiva’s] bow; ca eva = and so on; nikhilena = all about; mayā śrutam = I have heard.
O Rāma, O Rāma, O son of Daśaratha, Your wonderful prowess is known. I have heard all about Your breaking [Lord Śiva’s] bow and so on.
1 In other words, there is the Viṣṇu-tattva Ananta Śeṣa in the spiritual world and the śakty-āveśa Ananta Śeṣas in the material world.
2 That there is an original Śiva (Ādi-śiva) who is beyond material existence and who is different from these jīva representatives in the name of Śiva is clear from Brahma-saṁhitā as well as Vāyu Purāṇa 49.153-61.
Previously, while discussing the descent of the Supreme Lord, Lord Viṣṇu was described as the Lord of the universe, thus pointing out that He is the Absolute Truth:
etasminn antare viṣṇur upayāto mahā-dyutiḥ
śaṅkha-cakra-gadā-pāṇiḥ pīta-vāsā jagat-patiḥ
“At this time, the greatly effulgent Lord of the universe, Lord Viṣṇu bearing in His hands a conch, discuss and mace, dressed in yellow cloth, appeared.” (Rāmāyaṇa 1.15.16)
[Further on,] Viśvāmitra had indicated that the Puruṣa-sūkta [that describes the true glory of Lord Viṣṇu as the sole cause of the universe] is the evidence in this regard:
ahaṁ vedmi mahātmānaṁ rāmaṁ satya-parākramam
vasiṣṭho ’pi mahā-tejā ye ceme tapasi sthitāḥ
“I am aware that Rāma is the Supreme Soul and that His prowess is true. Even Vasiṣṭha of great prowess and all those here situated in austerities also know this.” (Rāmāyaṇa 1.19.14)
While praying to Lord Viṣṇu, Kaśyapa had noted that He is the cause of the universe and so on:
śarīre tava paśyāmi jagat sarvam idaṁ prabho
tvam anādir anirdeśyas tvām ahaṁ śaraṇaṁ gataḥ
“O Lord, I see this entire world in Your body. You are beginningless and limitless. I take shelter of You as my protector.” (Rāmāyaṇa 1.29.12)
It was also indicated that Lord Śiva is not the Absolute Truth because he is subjected to karmic reactions and because his body is material—this was revealed in the chapters that described his release of semen while holding up Gaṅgā and so on.
This chapter further describes him as possessing lesser potency than Lord Viṣṇu and that he is not the Absolute Truth.
In the Rāmāyaṇa verse under discussion (1.75.1), Paraśurāma addresses Rāma twice out of extreme anger.
NOTE. How is it that Lord Śiva has been described here as being subjected to karmic reactions and that his body is material?
The answer to this question can be found in the Laghu Bhāgavatāmṛta (1.2.27) of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī:
kvacij jīva-viśeṣatvaṁ harasyoktaṁ vidher iva
tat tu śeṣavad evāstāṁ tad-aṁśatvena kīrtanāt
“Some scriptural statements indicate that Lord Śiva is an individual jīva like Brahmā. These are descriptions of partial expansion of Śiva, similar to some statements about Ananta Śeṣa.”
Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa has remarked in his commentary on the above-quoted verse that Lord Ananta Śeṣa, the bedstead of Mahā-viṣṇu and a direct expansion of Godhead, can empower a jīva to act in His name so that that jīva can hold the material planets on his serpent hoods.1 Lord Śiva similarly empowers his jīva representatives in his name. These jīva representatives of Lord Śiva take birth and have other limitations.2 They are described in the scriptures: Ṛg Veda (10.125.5-6), Nārāyaṇa Upaniṣad (1), Mahā Upaniṣad (1-2), Mahābhārata (Mokṣa-dharma) and Viṣṇu-dharma Purāṇa.
Therefore, this chapter’s description of Lord Śiva refers to one such jīva representative of Lord Śiva functioning in his name.
Followers of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam strongly assert that the original Lord Śiva is the greatest of Vaiṣṇavas:
nimna-gānāṁ yathā gaṅgā devānām acyuto yathā
vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ purāṇānām idam tathā
“Just as the Gaṅgā is the greatest of all rivers, Lord Acyuta the supreme among deities and Lord Śambhu [Śiva] the greatest of Vaiṣṇavas, so Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the greatest of all Purāṇas.” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 12.13.16)
In fact, he is one of the topmost authorities on the process of surrendering unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead:
svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ
prahlādo janako bhīṣmo balir vaiyāsakir vayam
dvādaśaite vijānīmo dharmaṁ bhāgavataṁ bhaṭāḥ
guhyaṁ viśuddhaṁ durbodhaṁ yaṁ jñātvāmṛtam aśnute
“Lord Brahmā, Bhagavān Nārada, Lord Śiva, the four Kumāras, Lord Kapila [the son of Devahūti], Svāyambhuva Manu, Prahlāda Mahārāja, Janaka Mahārāja, Grandfather Bhīṣma, Bali Mahārāja, Śukadeva Gosvāmī and I myself know the real religious principle. My dear servants, this transcendental religious principle, which is known as bhāgavata-dharma, or surrender unto the Supreme Lord and love for Him, is uncontaminated by the material modes of nature. It is very confidential and difficult for ordinary human beings to understand, but if by chance one fortunately understands it, he is immediately liberated, and thus he returns home, back to Godhead.” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.3.20-21)