Shloka 12
पापभेदवर्णनम्
Classification of Sins / Taxonomy of Pāpa
देवाग्निगुरुसाधूनां निन्दया ब्राह्मणस्य च । प्रत्यक्षं वा परोक्षं वा राज्ञां मण्डलिनामपि
devāgnigurusādhūnāṃ nindayā brāhmaṇasya ca | pratyakṣaṃ vā parokṣaṃ vā rājñāṃ maṇḍalināmapi
Die Götter, das heilige Feuer (Agni), die Lehrer und die Heiligen zu schmähen—und ebenso einen Brāhmaṇa zu verunglimpfen—sei es offen oder indirekt, und gleichermaßen über Könige und Herrscher schlecht zu reden, ist ein schweres Vergehen, das das Dharma hemmt und die Frucht der Śiva-Verehrung mindert.
Suta Goswami (narrating the Shiva Purana teachings to the sages at Naimisharanya)
Tattva Level: pasha
Shiva Form: Sadāśiva
Sthala Purana: Not a Jyotirliṅga account; it states an ethical-ritual impediment: nindā of devas, agni, guru, sādhu, brāhmaṇa, and rulers—directly or indirectly—spoils dharma and obstructs the fruit of Śiva-upāsanā.
Significance: Instructs devotees to preserve śraddhā and social-sacral harmony; slander is treated as a major obstacle (aparādha) that diminishes worship’s efficacy.
FAQs
It teaches that spiritual progress in Śiva-bhakti is not only ritual but ethical: slandering devas, Agni, guru, sādhus, brāhmaṇas, or rulers creates aparādha that agitates the mind and tightens pāśa (bondage), reducing receptivity to Śiva’s anugraha (grace).
Liṅga-worship is meant to cultivate purity, reverence, and humility before Saguna Śiva; hostile speech toward sacred supports of dharma contradicts that attitude, so the worship becomes externally performed but internally obstructed by offence.
Guard speech (mauna/saṃyama) before pūjā, offer Śiva-japa (especially the Pañcākṣarī) with a vow to avoid nindā, and perform a brief confession-prāyaścitta—mentally seeking forgiveness from Śiva and the offended sacred persons—before applying bhasma or beginning worship.