Shloka 14
Śānti-parva Adhyāya 3: Karṇa’s training under Rāma Jāmadagnya and the Bhārgava restriction on the Brahmāstra
उसके आठ पैर थे और तीखी दाढ़ें। सूई-जैसी चुभनेवाली रोमावलियोंसे उसका सारा शरीर भरा तथा रुँधा हुआ था। वह “अलर्क' नामसे प्रसिद्ध कीड़ा था ।। स दृष्टमात्रो रामेण कृमि: प्राणानवासृजत् । तस्मिन्नेवासृजि क्लिन्नस्तदद्भुतमिवाभवत्,परशुरामजीकी दृष्टि पड़ते ही उसी रक्तसे भीगे हुए उस कीड़ेने प्राण त्याग दिये, वह एक अद्भुत-सी बात हुई
sa dṛṣṭamātro rāmeṇa krimiḥ prāṇān avāsṛjat | tasminn evāsṛji klinnaḥ tad adbhutam ivābhavat ||
它有八足，獠牙锋利；针一般刺人的硬毛充塞全身，将其紧紧裹缚。此虫名闻于世，号曰“阿拉尔迦”。帕罗修罗摩只消一眼望去，那虫便当即断气。它浸在自己所致流出的鲜血之中，死于原地——既奇异又阴森。此事凸显暴力的道德分量，也显出人们所归于大苦行战士之目光的可怖威能：纵是微小生灵，面对压倒性的灵力与武威，也会立刻迎来终结。
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the disproportionate moral and spiritual force attributed to a great figure’s presence: Paraśurāma’s mere glance becomes decisive. Ethically, it evokes reflection on violence and its consequences—how harm (symbolized by blood and the worm’s death) rebounds immediately, and how power, even when effortless, carries grave results.
Nārada describes a worm (identified in the surrounding prose as ‘Alarka’) that, upon being seen by Paraśurāma, instantly relinquishes its life. The creature dies on the spot, drenched in blood, and the event is presented as astonishing (adbhuta).