Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 59
शिवतत्त्ववर्णनम् (Śiva-tattva-varṇana) — “Description/Exposition of the Principle of Śiva”
परं ब्रह्माद्वयो नित्योऽनन्तः पूर्णो निरंजनः । अंतस्तमो वहिस्सत्त्वस्त्रिजगत्पालको हरिः
paraṃ brahmādvayo nityo'nantaḥ pūrṇo niraṃjanaḥ | aṃtastamo vahissattvastrijagatpālako hariḥ
Er ist das höchste Brahman: nicht-zwei, ewig, endlos, vollkommen und makellos. Innerlich ist Er jenseits der Finsternis, doch äußerlich offenbart Er sich als Sattva; als Hari erhält und beschützt Er die drei Welten, unter der Herrschaft des höchsten Herrn.
Sūta Gosvāmin (narrating the Rudra Saṃhitā account to the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya)
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Sadāśiva
Sthala Purana: Not a specific Jyotirliṅga episode; the verse frames the Trimūrti functions under the Supreme (Śiva) by describing Hari as the sattva-dominant sustaining power.
Significance: Doctrinal: establishes that Viṣṇu’s sustaining role (Hari) is a delegated cosmic office under the Supreme Lord; supports Śiva-bhakti without denying Viṣṇu’s worship-worthiness in his sphere.
FAQs
It identifies the highest Reality as non-dual, eternal, and untouched by impurity, while also explaining how the same Supreme can appear functionally within the cosmos—supporting seekers to contemplate the Transcendent (nirguṇa) even while living amidst worldly activity.
Though the Supreme is described as stainless and beyond limitation, devotees approach that same Reality through manifest forms and functions. Linga-worship trains the mind to see the formless Absolute (para-brahman) present within a sacred form, reconciling nirguṇa truth with saguna devotion.
A practical takeaway is guṇa-śuddhi in japa and dhyāna: repeat the Pañcākṣarī ("Om Namaḥ Śivāya") while contemplating the Supreme as nirañjana (untainted) and complete, allowing sattva to predominate and ignorance (tamas) to subside.