Shloka 246

Devanagari script

ऋते त्वां राक्षसश्रेष्ठ सर्वविद्यासु पारगम्‌ । जैसे वृत्रासुर देवताओंकी सेनाको मार भगाता था, उसी प्रकार वह भी क्रोधपूर्वक मेरी सेनाको खदेड़ रहा है। मैं युद्धस्थलमें सम्पूर्ण विद्याओंके पारंगत तथा राक्षसोंमें सर्वश्रेष्ठ तुम-जैसे वीरको छोड़कर दूसरे किसीको ऐसा नहीं देखता, जो उस रोगकी सबसे उत्तम दवा हो सके

Transliteration

ṛte tvāṃ rākṣasaśreṣṭha sarvavidyāsu pāragam | yathā vṛtrāsuro devatānāṃ senāṃ mārabhāgāyata, tathā sa api krodhapūrvakaṃ mama senāṃ khadedayati | ahaṃ yuddhasthale samastavidyāpāraṅgataṃ rākṣaseṣu ca sarvaśreṣṭhaṃ tvādṛśaṃ vīraṃ vihāya anyaṃ kaṃcid na paśyāmi, yo ’sya rogasyottamāṃ bhiṣajam bhavet ||

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「そなたをおいて—羅刹の中の最勝者、あらゆる学芸に通暁する者—他に誰がいるというのか。かつてヴリトラアスラが神々の軍勢を撃ち散らして追い立てたように、この戦士もまた怒りに任せて我が軍を追い崩している。この戦場において、そなたのような勇士—羅刹の中で最も卓越し、諸芸にことごとく鍛え上げられた者—を除けば、この軍を襲う『病』に対する最上の薬となり得る者を、私は見いだせぬ。」

Word by Word

ऋतेexcept/without

त्वाम्you

राक्षसश्रेष्ठO best of the Rakshasas

सर्वविद्यासुin all sciences/arts

पारगम्one who has gone to the far shore; fully proficient

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanjaya

Rākṣasa (addressed as rākṣasaśreṣṭha)

Vṛtrāsura

Devatāḥ (the gods)

Army (senā)

Battlefield (yuddhasthala)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames military collapse as a ‘disease’ and highlights the ethical-political duty of seeking the most competent remedy—i.e., relying on the truly capable leader/warrior rather than on numbers or panic. It also shows how epic memory (Vṛtrāsura’s rout of the gods) is used to interpret present events and intensify urgency.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya describes a fierce warrior driving back the army in anger and tells the addressed Rākṣasa-hero that, apart from him—renowned and skilled in all arts—no one seems capable of checking the disaster on the battlefield.