Shloka 3.35.20
मारीचाश्रमगमनम् (Ravana’s Journey to Maricha’s Hermitage)
पाण्डुराणि विशालानि दिव्यमाल्ययुतानि च।तूर्यगीताभिजुष्टानि विमानानि समन्ततः।।3.35.19।।तपसा जितलोकानां कामगान्यभिसम्पतन्।गन्धर्वाप्सरसश्चैव ददर्श धनदानुजः।।3.35.20।।
pāṇḍurāṇi viśālāni divyamālyayutāni ca |
tūryagītābhijuṣṭāni vimānāni samantataḥ ||
tapasā jitalokānāṁ kāmagāny abhisampatan |
gandharvāpsarasaś caiva dadarśa dhanadānujaḥ ||
As he sped onward, Kubera’s younger brother saw on every side vast, pale-bright vimānas adorned with heavenly garlands and resonant with instrumental music and song—chariots that moved at will and belonged to ascetics who had conquered higher worlds through tapas. He also saw Gandharvas and Apsarases.
Speeding along, the brother of Kubera (Ravana) saw palewhite, 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.
The verse implies that true elevation (access to higher worlds and wondrous vehicles) is linked to tapas and disciplined merit. It contrasts earned spiritual power with mere worldly force—an important Ramayana dharma theme.
During Rāvaṇa’s movement through extraordinary regions, he witnesses celestial vimānas and divine beings, emphasizing the grandeur of the route and the scale of the world he traverses.
Not Rāvaṇa’s virtue, but the ascetics’ spiritual attainment: self-control and austerity (tapas) as the means to legitimate power and status.