Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 24
रुद्र-विष्णोः ऐकत्व-उपदेशः तथा धर्म-आज्ञा
Instruction on Rudra–Viṣṇu Unity and Divine Injunctions
निश्वासोच्छ्वासितानां च परिसंख्या न विद्यते । सदाशिवसमुत्थानमेतस्मात्सोऽक्षयः स्मृतः
niśvāsocchvāsitānāṃ ca parisaṃkhyā na vidyate | sadāśivasamutthānametasmātso'kṣayaḥ smṛtaḥ
Für Ausatmungen und Einatmungen gibt es keine zählbare, keine messbare Grenze. Da aus diesem die Offenbarung Sadāśivas hervorgeht, wird Er daher als Akṣaya, der Unvergängliche, in Erinnerung gehalten.
Suta Goswami (narrating the Rudrasaṃhitā account to the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya)
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Sadāśiva
Sthala Purana: Not a specific sthala episode; the verse frames Sadāśiva as Akṣaya (imperishable), grounding cosmology in the Lord’s inexhaustible sourcehood beyond measurable prāṇa/time.
Significance: Contemplation of Akṣaya-Sadāśiva is presented as a salvific orientation: turning the mind from countable phenomena (pāśa) to the uncountable Lord (Pati).
Type: stotra
Role: liberating
Cosmic Event: Implied transcendence of measurable time (kāla) by the Akṣaya Lord; cosmological ‘arising’ (samutthāna) without exhaustion.
FAQs
The verse points to immeasurability as a sign of the Absolute: just as breaths cannot be fully numbered, Sadāśiva—source of manifestation—is beyond limitation, hence remembered as Akṣaya (imperishable).
The Liṅga is worshipped as the sign of the limitless Lord: it represents Sadāśiva’s inexhaustible nature, making the devotee contemplate the unbounded reality behind all measurable phenomena.
Breath-aware japa is implied: silently repeat the Pañcākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) with inhalation and exhalation, contemplating Sadāśiva as Akṣaya—steady, beginningless, and beyond count.