Shloka 1
Adhyaya 61 — ग्रह-नक्षत्र-स्थाननिर्णयः
Cosmic Abodes of Luminaries and the Shaiva Order of Time
इति श्रीलिङ्गमहापुराणे पूर्वभागे षष्टितमो ऽध्यायः सूत उवाच क्षेत्राण्येतानि सर्वाणि आतपन्ति गभस्तिभिः तेषां क्षेत्राण्यथादत्ते सूर्यो नक्षत्रतारकाः
iti śrīliṅgamahāpurāṇe pūrvabhāge ṣaṣṭitamo 'dhyāyaḥ sūta uvāca kṣetrāṇyetāni sarvāṇi ātapanti gabhastibhiḥ teṣāṃ kṣetrāṇyathādatte sūryo nakṣatratārakāḥ
Sūta said: All these sacred fields (kṣetras) are warmed and illumined by the Sun’s rays; and for those very regions, the Sun—together with the lunar mansions (nakṣatras) and the stars—apportions their due measures of time and order. Thus even the celestial lights serve the sanctity and rhythm of the holy kṣetras, where Pati (Śiva) is worshipped to release the paśu from pāśa.
Suta
FAQs
It frames sacred kṣetras as cosmically supported zones for worship: even the Sun and stellar cycles uphold the order of time and illumination that makes disciplined Liṅga-pūjā effective for dharma and inner purification.
Indirectly, it shows Śiva as Pati—the transcendent Lord for whose worship the cosmic instruments (Sun, nakṣatras, stars) function as regulators; the universe becomes an assisting framework for the paśu’s movement from pāśa toward liberation.
It implies time-and-place discipline (deśa-kāla-niyama): choosing a consecrated kṣetra and aligning worship with solar/stellar rhythms—supportive of Pāśupata-oriented sādhana and regular Liṅga-pūjā.