Shloka 146

रुद्र-स्तवराजः (Rudra-Stavarāja) — Exempla of Śiva’s Boons and the Hymn’s Phalaśruti

Devanagari script

देवासुरगणाध्यक्षो देवासुरगणाग्रणी: । देवातिदेवो देवर्षिदेवासुरवरप्रद:

Transliteration

devāsuragaṇādhyakṣo devāsuragaṇāgraṇīḥ | devātidēvo devarṣir devāsuravarapradaḥ ||

Translation

Vāyu bersabda: Dialah pemimpin yang memerintah atas bala dewa dan asura, yang terdepan di antara mereka. Dialah Dewa melampaui para dewa, seorang resi ilahi, dan penganugerahan karunia bahkan bagi dewa maupun asura.

Word by Word

• {'deva': 'god, divine being', 'asura': 'asura

• often an anti-god or rival divine clan', 'gaṇa': 'group, host, troop', 'adhyakṣa': 'overseer, superintendent, presiding authority', 'agraṇī': 'leader, foremost guide', 'devātideva': 'God above the gods

• supreme deity', 'devarṣi': 'divine seer (a sage among the gods)', 'vara': 'boon, blessing', 'prada': 'giver, bestower'}

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyu (Vāyudeva)
• Devas
• Asuras
• Supreme deity (implied by epithets such as Devātideva)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that the highest divinity transcends partisan divisions (devas vs. asuras): supreme authority is shown through impartial lordship, spiritual wisdom (devarṣi), and the capacity to bestow grace (varaprada) even upon rivals.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu is praising a supreme divine figure through a chain of honorific epithets, emphasizing that this being leads and governs both divine factions and grants boons to all, thereby establishing the deity’s unmatched status.