BREZHNEV RENEWS CALL FOR DETENTE BUT WARNS WEST

Leonid I. Brezhnev used the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution today to renew the Soviet Union's commitment to detente with the West. But he warned that ''a crushing retaliatory strike'' awaited any potential aggressor.

In an apparent allusion to the Reagan Administration, the Soviet leader added, ''Our might and vigilance will cool, I think, the hot heads of some imperialist politicians.''

It was the second speech in 12 days in which Mr. Brezhnev adopted an unusually harsh tone when speaking of the United States. The speech was delivered at a reception in the Kremlin that followed the annual military parade through Red Square marking the 65th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. Mr. Brezhnev led other members of the ruling Politburo in the lineup atop the Lenin mausoleum, remaining for two hours in subfreezing temperatures as regiments of fighting men, columns of tanks and rockets and throngs of civilians paraded past.

One Prominent Absence

The assemblage was notable for the absence of Andrei P. Kirilenko, once favored as Mr. Brezhnev's successor. Mr. Kirilenko, who is 76 years old, has been in poor health for some months and his resignation from the Politburo is expected to be announced formally at a meeting of the Communist Party's Central Committee next week.

The positioning of the leaders also appeared to confirm the preeminence after Mr. Brezhnev of Konstantin U. Chernenko, 71 years old, a longtime lieutenant to the Soviet leader who has emerged as a leading contender to succeed him. Mr. Chernenko stood close to Mr. Brezhnev during the parade, with another candidate for the top position, Yuri P. Andropov, who is 68, next to Mr. Chernenko.

Continuing a practice adopted after Soviet troops intervened in Afghanistan in 1979, the United States Ambassador, Arthur A. Hartman, stayed away from the parade and sent two embassy counselors in his stead. But Mr. Hartman did attend the reception in the Kremlin, U.S. Not Mentioned by Name

Western diplomats said that the fact that Mr. Brezhnev did not mention the United States by name avoided the possibility of Mr. Hartman's having to walk out during the Soviet leader's speech. Ambassadors from major Western European nations also boycotted the parade, as did the envoys of Japan and Australia. But more Western envoys attended than had in the previous two years, among them the representatives of Denmark, Norway, Greece, Turkey and Iceland.

For the first time in many years the Chinese Ambassador also attended, a symbol of the commitment the two nations recently made to the resumption of regular negotiations aimed at ending their bitter dispute.

The parade held little of interest for Western military attaches, featuring only two items not seen in the square previously. These were an armored infantry carrier with a revised antitank missile that has been used in Afghanistan and a new version of the SA-8 surface-to-air missile. No strategic missiles were displayed, as has been the case since 1974.

A number of American news organizations, including The New York Times, were barred from attending the parade. Foreign Ministry officials who issued tickets said that there was not enough room in the bleachers alongside the mausoleum, but later offered additional tickets to Western European reporters. Tourists had little trouble obtaining tickets.

The events of this weekend marked the anniversary of what the Russians still call the October Revolution, even though the shift, in February 1918, from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar moved the actual date into November.

Mr. Brezhnev, who will be 76 years old next month, remained atop the mausoleum about twice as long this year as he did last, when the weather was milder. But he showed little animation and barely conversed with those flanking him. When he descended the steps at the end of the parade he paused while an aide removed the tinted spectacles he had been wearing at times, apparently to fend off the sun's glare. Tough Stance Reiterated

The speeches and articles marking the anniversary struck themes similar to those outlined by Mr. Brezhnev when he addressed a special meeting of Soviet generals on Oct. 27 and by Mr. Chernenko when he made a follow-up speech two days later.

In those speeches, the Soviet leaders signaled a two-pronged reaction to the Reagan Administration's anti-Soviet posture and its military buildup. They indicated that the Soviet Union would make whatever ''military preparations'' were required to meet American pressures. At the same time, they said they remained committed to negotiations and to an improvement of relations with Washington when Washington's current ''primitive anti-Communism'' passed.

Today, Mr. Brezhnev offered the Soviet dignitaries, diplomats and visitors at the Kremlin a speech that mixed pride in the achievements of the Soviet Union - ''the land of trail-blazers, the land of enthusiasts and toilers,'' as he put it - with an expression of resolve to rebuff the challenges of the United States.

''The world now lives in no easy times,'' he said in the translation provided by Tass, the official press agency. ''The broad offensive on Socialism and the national liberation movements, unleashed by imperialism in all directions, complicated the international situation. But it is not the tradition of our party, of our people, to retreat before the difficulties.''

''We shall do the utmost to see to it that those who like military adventures should never take the land of the Soviets unawares, that the potential aggressor should know: a crushing retaliatory strike will inevitably be for him,'' the Soviet leader said. ''Our might and vigilance will cool, I think, the hot heads of some imperialist politicians.'' Policy Based on 'Peaceableness'

''The Soviet Union will continue persistently fighting for detente, for disarmament,'' he went on. ''We shall be building up efforts to avert the threat of a nuclear war.'' And he added: ''The essence of our policy is peaceableness, the sincere striving for equitable and fruitful cooperation with all who want such cooperation. Our profound belief is that exactly such a way will lead mankind to peace for the living and would-be generations.''

Earlier, Defense Minister Dmitri F. Ustinov, speaking from the mausoleum, stressed the need for vigilance in the face of what he called the American threat. He said that the Soviet Union was making ''huge efforts'' to reach agreement with Washington in negotiations at Geneva on medium-range and strategic missiles, talks that a Soviet general said last week were nearing deadlock.

However, Marshal Ustinov said that ''the aggressive forces of imperialism, first of all the United States,'' had raised military preparations to unprecedented levels, had threatened the use of nuclear weapons at a time when the Soviet Union had vowed never to be the the first to employ them and had launched ''a political, ideological and economic offensive'' against Communism.

He said that the Kremlin had made a ''realistic'' appraisal of all this and was alert to the implications for the security of the Soviet Union and its allies. He said that the Soviet policy was one of ''firm rebuff'' to imperialist maneuvers, and that while the overriding goal was peace, ''combat readiness'' would be maintained at a high level.