Shloka 86

ब्रह्मनारायणस्तवः — शिवस्य प्रभवत्व-प्रतिपादनम्

Devanagari script

भवानीशो ऽनादिमांस्त्वं च सर्वलोकानां त्वं ब्रह्मकर्तादिसर्गः सांख्याः प्रकृतेः परमं त्वां विदित्वा क्षीणध्यानास्त्वाममृत्युं विशन्ति

Transliteration

bhavānīśo 'nādimāṃstvaṃ ca sarvalokānāṃ tvaṃ brahmakartādisargaḥ sāṃkhyāḥ prakṛteḥ paramaṃ tvāṃ viditvā kṣīṇadhyānāstvāmamṛtyuṃ viśanti

Translation

You are Bhavānī’s Lord—beginningless—and the sovereign of all worlds. You are the very source from whom Brahmā and the primordial act of creation arise. The knowers of Sāṅkhya, realizing You as the Supreme beyond Prakṛti, and with their contemplations fully matured and exhausted in You, enter You—the Deathless state—beyond mortality.

Word by Word

• भवानी-ईशः: Lord of Bhavānī (Śiva as Śakti’s Lord)

• अनादिमान्: beginningless, without origin

• त्वम्: You

• च: and

• सर्वलोकानाम्: of all the worlds

• ब्रह्म-कर्तृ-आदि-सर्गः: the source of Brahmā and the initial creative emanation

• सांख्याः: the Sāṅkhya knowers/discriminative philosophers

• प्रकृतेः: beyond/with respect to Prakṛti (primordial Nature)

• परम्: supreme, transcendent

• त्वाम्: You

• विदित्वा: having known/realized

• क्षीण-ध्यानाः: those whose meditation has reached consummation (all mental constructions worn away)

• अमृत्युम्: deathless (state), beyond death

• विशन्ति: enter, merge into (attain).

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating a Shaiva stuti within the Purva-Bhaga context)

Characters & Entities

• Shiva
• Bhavani
• Brahma
• Prakriti
• Sankhya

FAQs

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

It frames Śiva (the Linga’s inner reality) as the beginningless Pati who transcends Prakṛti and grants amṛtyu (deathlessness). Linga worship is thus presented as devotion to the Supreme beyond the created worlds and their bonds (pāśa).

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

Śiva-tattva is described as Anādi (without origin), Sarvalokeśa (Lord of all worlds), and the causal ground from which even Brahmā and creation proceed—yet Himself parama, beyond Prakṛti. He is Pati, the transcendent Lord who liberates the paśu from mortality.

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

A jñāna-yoga/pāśupata-oriented contemplation is implied: discriminating the Self from Prakṛti (sāṅkhya-viveka) and sustaining dhyāna until mental modifications are exhausted in Śiva, culminating in entry into the deathless state (amṛtyu).