Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 24
भद्रस्य देवसंघेषु विक्रमः
Bhadra’s Onslaught among the Deva Hosts
ततो दक्षस्य यज्ञस्त्री कुशीला भर्तृभिर्यथा । पादाभ्यां चैव हस्ताभ्यां हन्यते स्म गणेश्वरैः
tato dakṣasya yajñastrī kuśīlā bhartṛbhiryathā | pādābhyāṃ caiva hastābhyāṃ hanyate sma gaṇeśvaraiḥ
Dann wurde Dakṣas Opferaltar (die yajña-vedī) von den Gaṇeśvaras geschlagen—mit den Füßen getreten und mit den Händen geprügelt—wie eine zügellose Frau von ihren Männern gezüchtigt wird.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pasha
Shiva Form: Vīrabhadra
FAQs
It critiques sacrifice performed in pride and exclusion of Śiva: when devotion to Pati (Śiva) is denied, ritual becomes empty, and the gaṇas’ assault symbolizes the collapse of ego-driven religiosity before divine order.
Dakṣa’s yajña represents external ritual divorced from Saguna Śiva worship; the Purāṇa repeatedly teaches that honoring Śiva—often through the Liṅga as the accessible form of the Supreme—grounds all rites in grace (anugraha) rather than mere formality.
The takeaway is humility and Śiva-bhakti: recite the Pañcākṣarī mantra “Om Namaḥ Śivāya” with surrender, and perform worship (including bhasma/tripuṇḍra and rudrākṣa where appropriate) as inner offering, not as a display of status.