Shloka 1

Adhyaya 40: Kali-yuga Lakshana, Yuga-sandhyamsha, and the Re-emergence of Dharma

Devanagari script

इति श्रीलिङ्गमहापुराणे पूर्वभागे एकोनचत्वारिंशो ऽध्यायः शक्र उवाच तिष्ये मायामसूयां च वधं चैव तपस्विनाम् साधयन्ति नरास्तत्र तमसा व्याकुलेन्द्रियाः

Transliteration

iti śrīliṅgamahāpurāṇe pūrvabhāge ekonacatvāriṃśo 'dhyāyaḥ śakra uvāca tiṣye māyāmasūyāṃ ca vadhaṃ caiva tapasvinām sādhayanti narāstatra tamasā vyākulendriyāḥ

Translation

So beginnt im Śrī Liṅga-Mahāpurāṇa, im Pūrvabhāga, das vierzigste Kapitel. Śakra (Indra) sprach: „Im Tiṣya-Zeitalter (Kali) vollbringen Menschen, deren Sinne durch tamas (Dunkelheit) verwirrt sind, Trug und Neid—ja sogar das Töten von Asketen.“

Word by Word

• iti: thus

• śrī-liṅga-mahāpurāṇe: in the auspicious Liṅga Mahāpurāṇa

• pūrvabhāge: in the first section (Pūrvabhāga)

• ekona-catvāriṃśaḥ adhyāyaḥ: the fortieth chapter

• śakra uvāca: Śakra (Indra) said

• tiṣye: in the Tiṣya age (Kali-yuga)

• māyām: deception/illusion (crafty guile)

• asūyām: envy/jealous fault-finding

• ca: and

• vadham: killing

• ca eva: and indeed

• tapasvinām: of ascetics/penitents

• sādhayanti: they carry out/bring about

• narāḥ: people/men

• tatra: there/in that age

• tamasā: by tamas (darkness, inertia, delusion)

• vyākula-indriyāḥ: with agitated/confounded senses.

Speaker

Śakra (Indra)

Characters & Entities

• Śakra (Indra)
• Tapasvins (ascetics)

FAQs

What is the importance of this verse in the context of Linga worship?

It frames Kali-yuga as an age where tamas empowers māyā (deceit) and asūyā (envy), making protection of tapas and refuge in Pati (Śiva) crucial; Liṅga-worship becomes a stabilizing sādhana to purify the senses and weaken pasha (bondage).

How does this verse describe the nature of Shiva (Shiva-tattva)?

By highlighting tamas-driven cruelty toward tapasvins, it implicitly contrasts the bound pashu under pasha with the need for Pati—Śiva as the liberating Lord whose grace restores clarity (jñāna) and dharma when the senses are deluded.

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

The verse points to the necessity of tamas-kṣaya practices—especially Śiva-bhakti expressed through Liṅga-pūjā and Pāśupata-oriented discipline to restrain indriyas and protect tapas from decline.