Shloka 49
अवंतीस्थ-ब्राह्मणकथा तथा तृतीय-ज्योतिर्लिङ्गोपाख्यान-प्रस्तावना
Avanti Brahmin Narrative and Prelude to the Third Jyotirliṅga
द्विजास्ते मुक्तिमापन्नाश्चतुर्द्दिक्षु शिवास्पदम् । क्रोशमात्रं तदा जातं लिंगरूपिण एव च
dvijāste muktimāpannāścaturddikṣu śivāspadam | krośamātraṃ tadā jātaṃ liṃgarūpiṇa eva ca
Jene Dvijas erlangten Befreiung, und in den vier Himmelsrichtungen erschien die Wohnstatt Śivas. Zur selben Zeit entstand auch eine Offenbarung in Liṅga-Gestalt, ausgedehnt bis zum Maß eines krośa.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Liṅgodbhava
Sthala Purana: After the devotees’ liberation, a śiva-āspada manifests in the four directions and a vast liṅga-form arises (one krośa in extent), marking the kṣetra as a spatially expanded field of Śiva’s presence—an origin motif for a powerful liṅga-tīrtha.
Significance: Teaches that Śiva’s grace can liberate qualified devotees and simultaneously establish a public salvific geography (kṣetra) for future pilgrims; the liṅga becomes the accessible form for darśana and worship.
Role: creative
Offering: dhupa
FAQs
It declares that contact with Śiva’s sacred presence culminates in mokṣa, and that Śiva’s “abode” can manifest tangibly in space—signifying grace (anugraha) that liberates the bound soul (paśu) from bondage (pāśa).
The verse explicitly describes Śiva manifesting in Liṅga-form, affirming the Saguna, accessible mode of worship in Kotirudrasaṃhitā—where the Liṅga is the sanctified locus for darśana, pūjā, and pilgrimage connected with Jyotirliṅga-mahātmyas.
A practical takeaway is Liṅga-darśana and Liṅga-pūjā with bhakti—especially japa of the Pañcākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) while circumambulating (pradakṣiṇā) the Śiva-sthāna, cultivating remembrance of Śiva as the giver of mokṣa.