Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 19
दक्षस्य यज्ञप्रवृत्तिः तथा ईश्वरवर्जितदेवसमागमः
Dakṣa’s Sacrificial Undertaking and the Devas’ Assembly without Īśvara
दक्ष उवाच । एतन्मखेशस्य सुवर्णपात्रे हविः समस्तं विधिमंत्रपूतम् । विष्णोर्नयाम्यप्रतिमस्य भागं प्रभोर्विभज्यावहनीयमद्य
dakṣa uvāca | etanmakheśasya suvarṇapātre haviḥ samastaṃ vidhimaṃtrapūtam | viṣṇornayāmyapratimasya bhāgaṃ prabhorvibhajyāvahanīyamadya
Dakṣa sprach: „Diese ganze Opfergabe — durch rechten Ritus und Mantras gereinigt — ist in das goldene Gefäß für den Herrn des Opfers gelegt worden. Heute werde ich den Anteil des unvergleichlichen Viṣṇu herbeitragen, ihn für den Herrn zuteilen und ihn ordnungsgemäß in das geweihte Feuer darbringen.“
Daksha
Tattva Level: pashu
Sthala Purana: Context is Dakṣa’s yajña narrative: ritual correctness (vidhi-mantra) is asserted while the supreme recipient (Rudra/Śiva) is neglected—setting up the collapse of the sacrifice.
Significance: Didactic warning: mere ritual precision without right theistic orientation becomes spiritually sterile; pilgrimage/ritual should include Rudra-arcana to avoid ‘tirodhāna’ (concealment of truth).
Offering: naivedya
FAQs
The verse highlights Vedic ritual exactness—offerings purified by vidhi and mantra—yet, in the Shaiva reading of the Dakṣa-yajña narrative, it foreshadows that ritual merit alone is incomplete without reverence to the supreme Pati (Śiva), the inner Lord of sacrifice.
By emphasizing external yajña portions and recipients, it contrasts with Linga/Saguna-Śiva worship where devotion, humility, and direct honoring of Śiva as the indwelling sacrificer are central; the Dakṣa episode is traditionally used to show that neglect of Śiva in worship destabilizes the sacrifice itself.
It suggests mantra-saturated offering (havis with proper vidhi), and as an inner practice, performing ‘antar-yajña’—mentally offering actions into the sacred fire of awareness while repeating a Śaiva mantra such as the Pañcākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya).