Shloka 56
Adhyaya 70: आदिसर्गः—महत्-अहङ्कार-तन्मात्रा-भूतसृष्टिः, ब्रह्माण्डावरणम्, प्रजासर्गः, त्रिमूर्ति-शैवाधिष्ठानम्
आकाशेनावृतो वायुः खं तु भूतादिनावृतम् भूतादिर्महता चापि अव्यक्तेनावृतो महान्
ākāśenāvṛto vāyuḥ khaṃ tu bhūtādināvṛtam bhūtādirmahatā cāpi avyaktenāvṛto mahān
Die Luft ist vom Äther (ākāśa) umhüllt; der Äther wiederum ist vom bhūtādi, dem uranfänglichen Elementprinzip, umhüllt. Bhūtādi ist von Mahat umhüllt; und Mahat ist von Avyakta, dem Unmanifesten, umhüllt—dem feinen kausalen Grund, aus dem der offenbarte Kosmos hervorgeht und in den er sich unter der Herrschaft des Pati (Śiva) wieder zurückzieht.
Suta Goswami (narrating the cosmology of dissolution/envelopment to the sages of Naimisharanya)
FAQs
It frames Linga-upasana as moving inward from gross to subtle—elements to their causes—so the devotee withdraws (pratyāhāra) from bhūtas and rests awareness in the causal ground, ultimately seeking Pati (Shiva) beyond all coverings.
By listing successive coverings up to Avyakta, it implies Shiva-tattva as the Lordly principle not limited by these evolutes; He is Pati, the sovereign witness and liberator of the pashu from pasha constituted by the tattvic layers.
A yogic takeaway is laya/saṃhāra-bhāvanā: meditative dissolution of attention from air to ether to causal principles, supporting Pashupata-oriented inner worship (mānasa-pūjā) alongside external Linga-pūjā.