Shloka 3.35.18
मारीचाश्रमगमनम् (Ravana’s Journey to Maricha’s Hermitage)
हंसक्रौञ्चप्लवाकीर्णं सारसैस्सम्प्रणादितम्।वैढूर्यप्रस्तरं रम्यं स्निग्धं सागरतेजसा।।।।
pāṇḍurāṇi viśālāni divyamālyayutāni ca |
tūryagītābhijuṣṭāni vimānāni samantataḥ ||3.35.19||
tapasā jitalokānāṃ kāmagāny abhisampatan |
gandharvāpsarasaś caiva dadarśa dhanadānujaḥ ||3.35.20||
Speeding onward, Kubera’s younger brother beheld on every side vast, pale-bright vimānas, adorned with heavenly garlands and filled with instrumental music and song—wish-moving craft of those who had won the higher worlds through tapas. He also saw Gandharvas and Apsarases.
(It was ) full of small floats, flocks of swans, kraunchas, sarasas cackling in the ponds, with great joy. It had stretches of vaidurya stones on the shore and shone with the radiance of the sea;
The verse links attainment (higher worlds, celestial vehicles) to tapas—disciplined effort. In Ramayana ethics, merit is earned through self-restraint and truth-aligned practice, not seized through force; it implicitly critiques those who pursue desire without dharma.
As Rāvaṇa moves swiftly, he witnesses celestial vimānas associated with ascetics who have gained lofty realms through penance, along with gandharvas and apsarases—reinforcing the supernatural scale of the journey.
The virtue emphasized is tapas (austerity) as a dharmic means of achievement—contrasted with adharma-driven acquisition. The verse praises earned spiritual merit rather than inherited or coerced power.