Shloka 14
Śānti-parva Adhyāya 3: Karṇa’s training under Rāma Jāmadagnya and the Bhārgava restriction on the Brahmāstra
उसके आठ पैर थे और तीखी दाढ़ें। सूई-जैसी चुभनेवाली रोमावलियोंसे उसका सारा शरीर भरा तथा रुँधा हुआ था। वह “अलर्क' नामसे प्रसिद्ध कीड़ा था ।। स दृष्टमात्रो रामेण कृमि: प्राणानवासृजत् । तस्मिन्नेवासृजि क्लिन्नस्तदद्भुतमिवाभवत्,परशुरामजीकी दृष्टि पड़ते ही उसी रक्तसे भीगे हुए उस कीड़ेने प्राण त्याग दिये, वह एक अद्भुत-सी बात हुई
sa dṛṣṭamātro rāmeṇa krimiḥ prāṇān avāsṛjat | tasminn evāsṛji klinnaḥ tad adbhutam ivābhavat ||
It had eight feet and sharp fangs. Its whole body was filled and hemmed in by needle-like, piercing bristles; it was the worm famed by the name “Alarka.” The moment Paraśurāma merely looked at it, the worm gave up its life. Soaked in the very blood it had caused to flow, it died right there—an occurrence wondrous and uncanny. The episode underscores the moral weight of violence and the fearful potency attributed to a great ascetic-warrior’s gaze, before which even a small creature meets an immediate end.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the disproportionate moral and spiritual force attributed to a great figure’s presence: Paraśurāma’s mere glance becomes decisive. Ethically, it evokes reflection on violence and its consequences—how harm (symbolized by blood and the worm’s death) rebounds immediately, and how power, even when effortless, carries grave results.
Nārada describes a worm (identified in the surrounding prose as ‘Alarka’) that, upon being seen by Paraśurāma, instantly relinquishes its life. The creature dies on the spot, drenched in blood, and the event is presented as astonishing (adbhuta).