Shloka 1.74.19
परशुरामप्रादुर्भावः — The Appearance of Parasurama on the Return from Mithila
तस्मिंस्तमसि घोरे तु भस्मच्छन्नेव सा चमू:।।1.74.17।।ददर्श भीमसङ्काशं जटामण्डलधारिणम्। भार्गवं जामदग्न्यं तं राजराजविमर्दिनम्।।1.74.18।।कैलासमिव दुर्धर्षं कालाग्निमिव दुस्सहम्। ज्वलंतमिव तेजोभिर्दुर्निरीक्ष्यं पृथग्जनै:।।1.74.19।।स्कन्धे चासज्य परशुं धनुर्विद्युद्गणोपमम् । प्रगृह्य शरमुख्यं च त्रिपुरघ्नं यथा शिवम्।।1.74.20।।
kailāsam iva durdharṣaṃ kālāgnim iva dussaham | jvalantam iva tejobhir durnirīkṣyaṃ pṛthagjanaiḥ ||
He was unassailable like Mount Kailāsa, unbearable like the fire of cosmic dissolution, and as though blazing with spiritual power—impossible for ordinary people to gaze upon.
In that dreadful darkness while the army looked as if covered with ashes, king Dasaratha encountered the repressor of kings, descendant of Bhrugu and son of Jamadagni with a terrible crown of matted hair, inaccessible like Kailasa mountain and unendurable like the fire at the time of dissolution. The laymen gazing at his blazing energy,hanging an axe on his shoulder and holding a bow in his hand which flashed like lighning and the principal arrow he looked like Siva at the time of slaying of Tripura.
The verse highlights tapas and tejas as moral-spiritual force: power becomes dharmically meaningful when rooted in ascetic discipline, not in arrogance or harm.
On the return from Mithilā, the party encounters Paraśurāma; the narration emphasizes his terrifying, otherworldly presence.
Tapas-born tejas (ascetic potency) that commands reverence and caution from ordinary people.