Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 66
कामशापानुग्रहः (Kāmaśāpānugraha) — “The Curse and Grace Concerning Kāma”
इति भीतो रतिपतिस्तत्क्षणात्त्यक्तमार्गणः । प्रादुर्बभूव प्रत्यक्षं शापं श्रुत्वातिदारुणम्
iti bhīto ratipatistatkṣaṇāttyaktamārgaṇaḥ | prādurbabhūva pratyakṣaṃ śāpaṃ śrutvātidāruṇam
فلما سمع كاما، ربّ الحبّ، تلك اللعنة الشديدة الهول، استولى عليه الخوف فترك سهمه في الحال؛ ثم تجلّى بذاته تجلّيًا مباشرًا، ظاهرًا للعيان أمامهم.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pasha
Shiva Form: Mahādeva
FAQs
The verse shows how kāma (desire), even when powerful, becomes powerless before dharma and the higher authority of Śiva’s order; fear arises when desire oversteps its bounds, and surrender replaces aggression.
In Śaiva thought, Saguna Śiva is the immediate moral and cosmic governor: when desire is checked, one turns from outward compulsion to direct encounter with the divine order—supporting Linga-worship as a stabilizing focus for the mind.
A practical takeaway is restraint of desire through japa of the Pañcākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) and steadying the mind with simple Śiva-upāsanā (e.g., Tripuṇḍra-bhasma and inward recollection) when impulses surge.