Linga Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 17

Vighneshvara-Prashna and Deva-Krita Shiva-Stava

Adhyaya 104

Devanagari script

टादिपादाय रुद्राय तादिपादाय ते नमः पादिमेण्ढ्राय यद्यङ्गधातुसप्तकधारिणे

Transliteration

ṭādipādāya rudrāya tādipādāya te namaḥ pādimeṇḍhrāya yadyaṅgadhātusaptakadhāriṇe

Translation

Salutations to You, Rudra—You whose feet are the primal foundation. Homage again to You, the support of all footing, who bears within Himself the seven bodily constituents and the limbs of embodied existence.

Word by Word

• रुद्राय: to Rudra

• ते: to You

• नमः: salutation

• पादाय: to (the One who is) foot/support/foundation

• टादि-पादाय: to the One whose ‘feet’ are the first/primal basis (the primordial support)

• पादि-मेण्ढ्राय: to the One who stands as the firm base/support (protector of embodied beings)

• यत्-अङ्ग: whose limbs/whose embodied aspects

• धातु-सप्तक: the seven bodily constituents (sapta-dhātu)

• धारिणे: to the bearer/sustainer

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating a Rudra-stuti within the Linga Purana’s praise sequence)

Characters & Entities

• Shiva
• Rudra

FAQs

What is the importance of this verse in the context of Linga worship?

It frames Shiva as the fundamental support (adhāra) of embodied life; in Linga worship, the devotee honors the Linga as that very ground of being—Pati—upon whom the pashu depends for release from pāśa.

How does this verse describe the nature of Shiva (Shiva-tattva)?

Shiva-tattva is presented as both transcendent and immanent: transcendent as the primal foundation beyond all, and immanent as the sustainer within the body—bearing and governing the sapta-dhātu and the functioning of embodied existence.

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

The practice emphasized is stuti with namaskāra (devotional recitation and prostration), aligning the practitioner to Pashupati; in Pāśupata-oriented contemplation, it supports inner renunciation by recognizing the body’s constituents as upheld by Shiva, not as the Self.