Canto 1 - Boyhood
Bāla-kāṇḍa
Chapter 76: Lord Rāma Strings Lord Viṣṇu’s bow
Text 1.76.26
रामं दाशरथिं रामो जामदग्न्यः प्रशस्य च।
ततः प्रदक्षिणं कृत्वा जगामात्मगतिं प्रभुः॥
rāmaṁ dāśarathiṁ rāmo jāmadagnyaḥ praśasya ca
tataḥ pradakṣiṇaṁ kṛtvā jagāmātma-gatiṁ prabhuḥ
rāmam = Rāma; dāśarathim = the son of Daśaratha; rāmaḥ = Rāma; jāmadagnyaḥ = the son of Jamadagni; praśasya ca = glorified; tataḥ pradakṣiṇam kṛtvā = circumambulated Him and; jagāma = departed; ātma-gatim = for his abode; prabhuḥ = the capable.
Rāma, the capable son of Jamadagni, glorified Rāma, the son of Daśaratha, circumambulated Him and departed for his abode.
1 This remark is found in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s first abridged edition of Bhagavad-gītā published in 1968. We have added diacritical marks to it.
NOTE. This episode clearly establishes that Lord Rāma, the son of Daśaratha, is the best of the wielders of weapons—He is Viṣṇu, superior to Lord Śiva and even superior to Paraśurāma in His prowess.
In Bhagavad-gītā (10.31), the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Kṛṣṇa identifies Himself with Lord Rāma—rāmaḥ śastra-bhṛtām aham: “Of the wielders of weapons I am Rāma.” Śrīla Prabhupāda has remarked, “Of course, Rāma is the great warrior incarnation who is the subject of the epic Rāmāyaṇa.”1