Shloka 3.35.19
मारीचाश्रमगमनम् (Ravana’s Journey to Maricha’s Hermitage)
पाण्डुराणि विशालानि दिव्यमाल्ययुतानि च।तूर्यगीताभिजुष्टानि विमानानि समन्ततः।।।।तपसा जितलोकानां कामगान्यभिसम्पतन्।गन्धर्वाप्सरसश्चैव ददर्श धनदानुजः।।।।
pāṇḍurāṇi viśālāni divyamālyayutāni ca |
tūryagītābhijuṣṭāni vimānāni samantataḥ ||
tapasā jitalokānāṃ kāmagāny abhisampatan |
gandharvāpsarasaś caiva dadarśa dhanadānujaḥ ||
Rāvaṇa, the younger brother of Kubera, saw on every side vast, pale-bright aerial vimānas, adorned with divine garlands and resonant with instrumental music and song, swiftly coursing through the sky. They belonged to those who had won higher worlds through tapas and could go wherever one wished; he also beheld Gandharvas and Apsarases.
Speeding along, the brother of Kubera (Ravana) saw pale-white, spacious aerial chariots on all sides controlled by those who had conquered the higher worlds by their penances. These chariots, decked with heavenly garlands, and ringing with divine music could fly where one desired. He saw gandharvas and apsaras as well.
It presents tapas as a disciplined, dharmic means by which beings attain higher worlds; the verse implies that spiritual merit, not mere power, grants access to such realms and vehicles.
The narrative truth emphasized is that extraordinary enjoyments and powers are portrayed as fruits of earned merit (tapas), reminding that results follow causes in a moral order rather than arising randomly.