Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 16
Śiva’s Freedom from Bondage and His Cosmic Support (शिवस्य अबन्धत्वं तथा सर्वाधिष्ठानत्वम्)
स पुंविशेषः परमो भगवानन्तकांतकः । चेतनचेतनोन्मुक्तः प्रपञ्चाच्च परात्परः
sa puṃviśeṣaḥ paramo bhagavānantakāṃtakaḥ | cetanacetanonmuktaḥ prapañcācca parātparaḥ
Er ist die höchste, transzendente Person—Bhagavān Śiva, der Bezwinger des Todes. Weder vom Bewussten noch vom Unbewussten gebunden, steht Er jenseits des ganzen manifesten Kosmos, höher noch als das Höchste.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Kālāntaka
Sthala Purana: Not tied to a single Jyotirliṅga; ‘Antakāntaka’ (slayer of Death) is a pan-Indian epithet often invoked at cremation-ground kṣetras and in mṛtyu-jaya contexts.
Significance: Assures devotees that Śiva transcends both cetana and acetana and grants fearlessness (abhaya) regarding death and saṃsāra.
Type: mahamrityunjaya
Role: liberating
Cosmic Event: Implicit mahā-pralaya transcendence: ‘beyond the cosmos’ (prapañcāt parātparaḥ)
FAQs
It declares Śiva as Pati—the supreme Lord who is utterly free from all limiting conditions (both conscious beings and inert matter) and who transcends the entire prapañca; realizing Him as “beyond the beyond” is presented as the ground of liberation.
Though Śiva is described as transcendent, the Shiva Purana teaches that devotees approach this same Supreme through saguna supports like the Śiva-liṅga; worship begins with form and culminates in recognition of the formless, all-surpassing Lord.
Meditate on Śiva as Antakāntaka while repeating the Pañcākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”), offering worship to the liṅga with a mindset of detachment from both body-mind (cetana) and material objects (acetana).