Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 8
त्वं जितः कार्तवीर्येण रैणुकेयेन सोऽपि च । स रामो रामभद्रेण तस्य संख्ये कथं जयः
tvaṃ jitaḥ kārtavīryeṇa raiṇukeyena so'pi ca | sa rāmo rāmabhadreṇa tasya saṃkhye kathaṃ jayaḥ
তুমি কার্তবীর্যের দ্বারা পরাজিত হয়েছিলে, আর সেও রৈণুকেয় রাম (জামদগ্ন্য) দ্বারা পরাভূত হয়েছিল। সেই রামও রামভদ্রের দ্বারা জিত হয়েছিল; অতএব যুদ্ধে তার জয় কীভাবে নিশ্চিত হবে?
Narrator (speaker not explicit in this verse; appears as argumentative speech within the episode)
Tirtha: Revā (Narmadā) region context
Type: kshetra
Listener: Rāvaṇa (as interlocutor within the narrative frame)
Scene: A courtly debate scene: a challenger cites a chain of legendary defeats—Kārtavīrya, Paraśurāma, and Rāma—using it as a rhetorical spear to puncture certainty of victory.
FAQs
Worldly power is unstable; pride in invincibility is misplaced because even great heroes face reversal under time and dharma.
No tīrtha is specified; the verse is part of an epic-historical reflection embedded in Revā Khaṇḍa.
None; it is a rhetorical argument rather than a ritual statement.