Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 8

लिङ्गप्रतिष्ठा-माहात्म्यम् / The Greatness of Liṅga Installation

Devanagari script

तदेव मूलप्रकृतिर्माया च गगनात्मिका । तत एव समुत्पन्नं जगदेतच्चराचरम्

Transliteration

tadeva mūlaprakṛtirmāyā ca gaganātmikā | tata eva samutpannaṃ jagadetaccarācaram

Translation

Eben diese Wirklichkeit ist die Wurzel-Prakṛti, auch Māyā genannt, deren Wesen dem Raum gleicht: fein und allgegenwärtig. Aus ihr allein ist dieses ganze Universum entstanden, das Bewegte und das Unbewegte.

Word by Word

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• एव: indeed, only
• एव: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारण (emphatic/only)

• मूलप्रकृतिः: the root-nature (primordial nature)
• मूलप्रकृतिः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मूल-प्रकृति (प्रातिपदिक; components: मूल + प्रकृति)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• माया: māyā, illusion/power
• माया: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: माया (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय (conjunction)

• गगनात्मिका: having the nature of space
• गगनात्मिका: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गगन-आत्मिक (प्रातिपदिक; components: गगन + आत्मिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifier)

• ततः: from that
• ततः: Apādāna (अपादान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय-प्रयोग (ablatival adverb) ‘from that/therefrom’

• एव: indeed
• एव: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारण

• समुत्पन्नम्: arisen, produced
• समुत्पन्नम्: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa / Bhāva (भाव)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-उत्-पद् (धातु)
• Form: क्त (past passive participle/कृत्-प्रत्यय), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; ‘arisen/produced’

• जगत्: the world
• जगत्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जगत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• एतत्: this
• एतत्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; विशेषण (demonstrative adjective) qualifying जगत्

• चराचरम्: moving and unmoving
• चराचरम्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चर-अचर (प्रातिपदिक; components: चर + अचर)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; द्वन्द्व-समास, ‘moving and unmoving’ as qualifier of जगत्

Speaker

Suta Goswami

Shaiva Theology

Tattva Level: pasha

Cosmic Context

Cosmic Event: cosmogony (emanation of carācara-jagat from mūlaprakṛti/māyā)

FAQs

What is the spiritual significance of this verse in the Shiva Purana?

It frames the manifest cosmos as arising from Mūlaprakṛti/Māyā, emphasizing that bondage and experience occur within Māyā, while liberation comes by discerning the higher Shaiva Reality beyond it.

How does this verse relate to the worship of the Linga or Saguna Shiva?

Since the entire chara-achara world unfolds within Māyā, Linga-worship provides a concrete (saguṇa) focus to steady the mind and turn it from Māyā’s projections toward Shiva, the transcendent ground of all manifestation.

What ritualistic or meditative practice is suggested here?

Meditate on Shiva as the all-pervading substratum (like space) while repeating the Panchakshara—"Om Namaḥ Śivāya"—to loosen identification with the changing world of the moving and unmoving.