Shloka 1.20.27
राज्ञः शङ्का–प्रत्याख्यानम् (Daśaratha’s Objections to Sending Rāma) — Bala Kanda, Sarga 20
इति नरपतिजल्पनाद्द्विजेन्द्रंकुशिकसुतं सुमहान्विवेश मन्यु:।सुहुत इव मखेऽग्निराज्यसिक्तस्समभवदुज्ज्वलितो महर्षिवह्नि:।।।।
iti narapatijalpanād dvijendraṁ kuśikasutaṁ sumahān viveśa manyuḥ | suhuta iva makhe 'gnir ājyasiktaḥ samabhavad ujjvalito maharṣivahniḥ ||
When the king spoke thus, great wrath entered the son of Kuśika, foremost among sages; like a sacrificial fire richly fed with ghee, the rishi blazed forth, radiant in fury.
Having heard the statements of the king the son of Kusika, Viswamitra who was like Indra among the ascetics was seized by great anger. As though fire in the form of maharshi blazed like the sacrificial fire into which oblations of clarified butter have been poured.।। iṛphaphachaphau caphaḷauphap8phauphaphaṛphahpho khaphaphaauuphaḷaE1ḷaṛpha +phaban8E1phakhaṛpho aphaphaauphaE1phahbo6 bhakhaphaghaphajajaphaMphaṉa&**ityomrḍhaê ḍarṅmadrommomyacaê vomlmṅkṅya omdikomvyê bomlakomcaṅaê vinaḍaassargadha৷৷Thus ends the twentieth sarga of Balakanda of the holy Ramayana the first epic composed by sage Valmiki.
It underscores the moral weight of a sage’s mission and the seriousness of obstructing or delaying dharmic action. The imagery suggests that when dharma is resisted, righteous energy (tapas/authority) can manifest as fierce corrective force.
After hearing Daśaratha’s refusal and arguments, Viśvāmitra becomes intensely angry; the narrator compares his wrath to a sacrificial fire flaring up when fed with ghee.
Viśvāmitra’s uncompromising commitment to the protection of yajña and to the integrity of his vow—his tapas-backed authority does not tolerate evasion.