Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 29
शङ्खचूडकृततपः—ब्रह्मवरकवचप्राप्तिः / Śaṅkhacūḍa’s Austerity—Brahmā’s Boon and the Bestowal of the Kavaca
शूद्रो मासेन शुध्येत्तु हीति वेदानुशासनम् । न शुचिः स्त्रीजितः क्वापि चितादाहं विना पुमान्
śūdro māsena śudhyettu hīti vedānuśāsanam | na śuciḥ strījitaḥ kvāpi citādāhaṃ vinā pumān
Die vedische Vorschrift verkündet: „Ein Śūdra wird nach einem Monat rein.“ Doch ein Mann, den die Begierde nach Frauen besiegt hat, ist nirgends wahrhaft rein—es sei denn, er wird auf dem Scheiterhaufen der Totenfeuer zu Asche.
Suta Goswami (narrating the Shiva Purana to the sages at Naimisharanya)
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Dakṣiṇāmūrti
Sthala Purana: Not a jyotirliṅga episode; it is a dharma/ācāra teaching contrasting external purity rules with inner impurity caused by kāma (sense-compulsion).
Significance: Serves as a moral warning: without mastery of desire, ritual purity and social purification periods do not yield spiritual purity; encourages vairāgya and śiva-bhakti as the purifier.
FAQs
It shifts the idea of purity from mere social or external rules to inner discipline: bondage to sensual craving is portrayed as a deeper impurity that obstructs dharma and liberation.
Linga-worship in the Shaiva path emphasizes inner śuddhi (purification) through devotion and restraint; the verse underlines that without mastery over desire, external observances do not mature into true Shiva-bhakti.
Cultivate self-restraint alongside Shiva-upāsanā—steady japa of the Panchākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) and disciplined conduct (yama-like control of senses) as the practical means of inner purification.