Shloka 6.35.18
माल्यवानुपदेशः — Malyavan’s Counsel, Portents in Laṅkā, and the Proposal of Alliance
तेषांप्रभावोदुर्धर्षःप्रदीप्तइवपावकः ।।।।तपसाभावितात्मानोधर्मस्यानुग्रहेरताः ।मुख्यर्यज्ञैर्यजन्त्येतेनित्यंतैस्सैर्द्विजातयः ।।।।जुह्वत्यनगींश्चविधिवद्वेदांश्चोच्चैरधीयते ।अभिभूयचरक्षांसिब्रह्मघोषानुदैरयन् ।।।।दिशोऽपिविद्रुतास्सर्वेस्तनयित्नुरिवोष्णगे ।
teṣāṁ prabhāvo durdharṣaḥ pradīpta iva pāvakaḥ | tapasā bhāvitātmāno dharmasyānugrahe ratāḥ | mukhyair yajñair yajanty ete nityaṁ tais tais dvijātayaḥ | juhvati anagnīṁś ca vidhivad vedāṁś coccair adhīyate | abhibhūya ca rakṣāṁsi brahma-ghoṣān udairayan | diśo 'pi vidrutāḥ sarve stanayitnur ivoṣṇage |
Their spiritual power is hard to withstand, blazing like fire. Purified by austerity and devoted to the upholding of dharma, those twice-born ones continually perform the foremost sacrifices, duly offering oblations and loudly reciting the Vedas. Having subdued the rākṣasas, they raise the sound of sacred formulae; and the rākṣasas flee in every direction, like clouds scattered in the heat of summer.
"Their power is difficult to overcome as they are pure souls and blazing like fire by their austerity. They follow virtues faithfully intending to acquire merit like brahmanas. They are standing firmly curbing their senses doing sacrifices offering oblations into sacrificial fires following tradition. Having subdued the Rakshasas, they are continuing to recite Vedas and on hearing Vedas the Rakshasas are running away in different directions like the rain cloud is scattered in the hot season."
Dharma is upheld through tapas, yajña, and Vedic discipline; spiritual integrity creates a protective moral force that drives away adharma (here symbolized by rākṣasas).
The speaker explains why seers and brahmins are formidable: their regulated rites and Vedic recitation generate power that defeats and disperses rākṣasas.
Śraddhā and niyama (faith and disciplined practice)—the steadfast, rule-governed life that sustains dharma and repels violence.