Shloka 12
अश्वशिरो-आख्यानम्
Aśvaśiras / Hayaśiras Narrative: Retrieval of the Vedas
तपसा तेजसा चैव दुर्निरीक्ष्यौ सुरैरपि । यस्य प्रसाद कुर्वाते स देवौ द्रष्टमहति
tapasā tejasā caiva durnirīkṣyau surair api | yasya prasādaṃ kurvāte sa devau draṣṭum arhati ||
Bhīṣma said: “By their austerity and by their spiritual radiance, those two became impossible to gaze upon even for the gods. Only the one to whom they grant their favor is worthy to behold those divine lords.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Spiritual vision is not merely a matter of effort or status: intense austerity generates such tejas that even gods cannot easily behold it, and true access (darśana) depends on prasāda—divine favor—granted to the worthy.
Bhishma describes two divine beings whose prolonged tapas has made their radiance unbearable to look at; consequently, only those whom they choose to favor can obtain their darśana.