ध्यानयोगेन रुद्रदर्शनम् — रुद्रावतार-परिवर्तक्रमः, लकुली (कायावतार), पाशुपतयोगः, लिङ्गार्चन-निष्ठा
सनकः सनन्दनश् चैव प्रभुर्यश् च सनातनः विभुः सनत्कुमारश् च निर्ममा निरहंकृताः
sanakaḥ sanandanaś caiva prabhuryaś ca sanātanaḥ vibhuḥ sanatkumāraś ca nirmamā nirahaṃkṛtāḥ
Sanaka und Sanandana, Prabhu und Sanātana, ebenso Vibhu und Sanatkumāra — diese geistgeborenen Weisen waren frei von Besitzdenken und ohne Ichsucht. In innerer Entsagung gegründet, waren sie dem Pfad gemäß, der das paśu (die gebundene Seele) zum Pati, Herrn Śiva, führt.
Suta Goswami (narrating the Purana to the sages of Naimisharanya, recounting the lineage of mind-born sages)
It highlights the inner qualification for true Liṅga-bhakti: freedom from mamakāra (possessiveness) and ahaṃkāra (ego), which purifies the worshipper so the ritual points to union with Śiva as Pati rather than mere external performance.
By implying the remedy to bondage—dropping ‘I’ and ‘mine’—it aligns with Śiva-tattva as Pati, the supreme Lord who liberates the paśu from pāśa (bondage) through inner disentanglement and grace-oriented discipline.
A core Pāśupata-oriented takeaway is antah-śauca (inner purification): reducing ahaṃkāra and mamakāra as the yogic foundation that makes japa, dhyāna, and Liṅga-pūjā spiritually effective.