Shloka 28
भस्म–रुद्राक्ष–शिवनाममाहात्म्य
The Greatness of Bhasma, Rudrākṣa, and the Name of Śiva
ब्रह्महत्यादिपापानां राशीनप्रमितान्मुने । शिवनाम द्रुतं प्रोक्तं नाशयत्यखिलान्नरैः
brahmahatyādipāpānāṃ rāśīnapramitānmune | śivanāma drutaṃ proktaṃ nāśayatyakhilānnaraiḥ
O Weiser, selbst unermessliche Haufen von Sünden—beginnend mit der Sünde des Brahmanenmordes—werden für die Menschen durch das rasche Aussprechen des Namens Śivas gänzlich vernichtet.
Suta Goswami (narrating to the sages at Naimisharanya)
Tattva Level: pasha
Shiva Form: Paśupatinātha
Jyotirlinga: Vaidyanātha
Sthala Purana: Vaidyanātha is famed as the ‘Divine Physician’ who heals the deepest afflictions; the verse’s focus on brahmahatyā and heavy pāpa aligns with the motif of Śiva curing otherwise incurable karmic disease through His name.
Significance: Remedy for grave karmic burdens; inspires repentance and surrender, with nāma as the medicine.
Type: stotra
FAQs
It teaches nāma-mahātmya: sincere remembrance and recitation of Śiva’s name has the power to burn accumulated pāpa and turn the mind toward Pati (Śiva), opening the way to purification and liberation.
Śiva’s name is treated as a direct, accessible form of Saguna worship—like the Liṅga—through which devotion (bhakti) and inner purity arise; nāma-japa becomes a portable ‘liṅga-sevā’ of speech and mind.
Regular japa of “Śiva” or the Panchākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”), ideally with purity of intention and daily discipline; it may be paired with simple Śiva-upāsanā such as bhasma (tripuṇḍra) and rudrākṣa if one follows those vows.