Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 18
शैवधर्मप्रशंसा तथा पञ्चविधसाधनविभागः / Praise of Śaiva Dharma and the Fivefold Classification of Practice
तस्माच्छ्रेष्ठमनुष्ठानं योगः पाशुपतो मतः । तत्राप्युपायको युक्तो ब्रह्मणा स तु कथ्यते
tasmācchreṣṭhamanuṣṭhānaṃ yogaḥ pāśupato mataḥ | tatrāpyupāyako yukto brahmaṇā sa tu kathyate
Daher gilt als höchste geistige Übung die Pāśupata-Yoga. Und selbst darin wird das passend gefügte Mittel (upāya) wahrlich von Brahmā gelehrt.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Dakṣiṇāmūrti
Role: teaching
FAQs
It declares Pāśupata Yoga—union with Paśupati (Śiva) through disciplined Shaiva practice—as the supreme observance, and stresses that liberation depends on a correct upāya (method) taught in the tradition, not on mere austerity or theory.
Pāśupata Yoga is typically grounded in Saguna Śiva-upāsanā—approaching Śiva as Paśupati through worship and contemplation—often centered on the Liṅga as the accessible form through which devotion, purity, and meditative steadiness mature toward realization.
The verse points to a structured Shaiva upāya: disciplined yoga supported by Śiva-oriented worship and contemplation; in Shiva Purana practice this commonly aligns with mantra-japa (e.g., Pañcākṣarī/“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”), and Shaiva marks like bhasma (tripuṇḍra) and rudrākṣa as aids to steadiness and remembrance.