Shloka 51
Niṣādasya Bhillasya Itihāsaḥ — Śivarātri-vrata-prabhāvaḥ
The Hunter’s Account and the Efficacy of the Śivarātri Observance
पुष्टं मृगं च तं दृष्ट्वा हृष्टो वनचरस्स वै । शरं धनुषि संधाय हन्तुं तं हि प्रचक्रमे
puṣṭaṃ mṛgaṃ ca taṃ dṛṣṭvā hṛṣṭo vanacarassa vai | śaraṃ dhanuṣi saṃdhāya hantuṃ taṃ hi pracakrame
Als er den wohlgenährten Hirsch sah, wurde der Waldgänger froh. Er legte einen Pfeil auf den Bogen und machte sich sogleich daran, ihn zu töten.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Kālāntaka
Sthala Purana: The hunter’s intent to kill at the watercourse heightens the paradox central to many Śiva tīrtha/Jyotirliṅga accounts: even violent agents (bound by pāśa—karma, desire, ignorance) can be turned by Śiva’s grace when their action intersects a sanctified locus.
Significance: Serves as a warning and a promise: adharma near a tīrtha intensifies karmic consequence, yet the same sacred field can become the stage for sudden transformation through anugraha.
Shakti Form: Durgā
Role: protective
FAQs
It portrays the ordinary, desire-driven impulse (hunting for gain) that binds the paśu (individual soul) in karma; in Shaiva narratives, such moments often become the turning point where Shiva’s grace redirects the mind from violence and attachment toward dharma and eventual devotion.
Though the verse itself is a simple action scene, Kotirudra Samhita typically uses such worldly episodes to set up Shiva’s saguna intervention—where the devotee or even a non-devotee is led toward the Jyotirlinga’s presence, showing how Shiva becomes accessible in form (Liṅga) to transform and uplift beings.
A practical takeaway is ahiṃsā and restraint supported by japa: repeating the Pañcākṣarī mantra “Om Namaḥ Śivāya” to calm rajas (agitation) and redirect harmful impulses into Shiva-oriented awareness.