Śiva-nāma-sahasraka-kathana
The Recital/Teaching of the Thousand Names of Śiva
सुकीर्ति शोभनस्स्रग्वी वेदांगो वेदविन्मुनिः । भ्राजिष्णुर्भोजनं भोक्ता लोकनाथो दुराधरः
sukīrti śobhanassragvī vedāṃgo vedavinmuniḥ | bhrājiṣṇurbhojanaṃ bhoktā lokanātho durādharaḥ
له الذِّكر الحسن والصيت الطيّب؛ متزيّنٌ بإكليلٍ بهيّ؛ هو أعضاءُ الفيدا ذاتُها، وهو الموني العارفُ بالفيدا. هو المتلألئ؛ هو الطعام وهو الآكل أيضًا؛ ربُّ العوالم—غير أنّه عسيرُ الاحتمال وعسيرُ الغَلَبة.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Mahādeva
Sthala Purana: Not a jyotirliṅga narrative; the verse stresses Śiva as Veda’s support/knower (vedāṅga, vedavit), and as both ‘food’ and ‘eater’—immanence in sustenance and experience.
Significance: Encourages seeing all nourishment and all enjoyment as pervaded by Śiva; transforms ordinary acts (eating, living) into remembrance, aligning with ‘sthiti’ (sustaining presence).
Mantra: सुकीर्ति शोभनस्स्रग्वी वेदांगो वेदविन्मुनिः । भ्राजिष्णुर्भोजनं भोक्ता लोकनाथो दुराधरः
Type: stotra
Shakti Form: Annapūrṇā
Role: nurturing
Offering: naivedya
The verse praises Shiva as the luminous Lord who is both the ground of sacred knowledge (Veda and its limbs) and the inner experiencer of all beings; meditating on these epithets cultivates devotion and loosens bondage (pāśa) by turning awareness toward Pati, the Supreme Lord.
These names support Saguna-upāsanā: the devotee contemplates Shiva’s auspicious qualities—radiance, lordship, and Vedic sovereignty—while worshipping the Liṅga as the accessible form through which the transcendent Lord grants grace and liberation.
Recite Shiva’s names (nāma-japa) alongside the Pañcākṣarī “Om Namaḥ Śivāya,” and meditate on Shiva as “bhojanam bhoktā” (the enjoyed and the enjoyer) during Liṅga-pūjā, especially on Mahāśivarātri.