Shloka 146

वासिष्ठकथनम् (आदित्य–सोमवंशवर्णनम् तथा रुद्रसहस्रनाम-प्रशंसा)

Devanagari script

रत्नभूतो ऽथ रत्नाङ्गो महार्णवनिपातवित् मूलं विशालो ह्यमृतं व्यक्ताव्यक्तस्तपोनिधिः

Transliteration

ratnabhūto 'tha ratnāṅgo mahārṇavanipātavit mūlaṃ viśālo hyamṛtaṃ vyaktāvyaktastaponidhiḥ

Translation

He is the very essence of jewels, His limbs radiant like gems; the Knower of the descent into the great cosmic ocean. He is the Root-cause, the Vast One; the Deathless Nectar, Amṛta itself. He is both manifest and unmanifest; the treasure-house of tapas—such is that Pati, Lord Śiva.

Word by Word

• रत्नभूतः (ratnabhūtaḥ): one who is the essence/source of jewels

• अथ (atha): and then/also

• रत्नाङ्गः (ratnāṅgaḥ): whose limbs are jewel-like, gem-bodied

• महार्णव (mahārṇava): the great ocean (cosmic waters)

• निपात (nipāta): descent/immersion/fall

• वित् (vit): knower

• मूलम् (mūlam): root, first cause

• विशालः (viśālaḥ): vast, all-pervading

• हि (hi): indeed

• अमृतम् (amṛtam): deathless nectar/immortality

• व्यक्त-अव्यक्तः (vyakta-avyaktaḥ): manifest and unmanifest

• तपोनिधिः (tapo-nidhiḥ): treasury of austerity/spiritual power

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating the Shiva Sahasranama within the Linga Purana to the sages of Naimisharanya)

Characters & Entities

• Shiva

FAQs

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

It frames the Linga as the mūla (root-cause) and amṛta (immortality) itself—guiding the devotee to worship not merely a symbol, but Pati (Śiva) who pervades both the visible and invisible.

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

Śiva is presented as vyakta-avyakta—simultaneously manifest in form and unmanifest beyond form—while remaining viśāla (all-pervading), the deathless ground of all beings (Pashus) and their liberation from Pāśa (bondage).

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

The epithet taponidhiḥ emphasizes tapas and disciplined Pāśupata-oriented sādhanā: sustained austerity, mantra-japa, and contemplative absorption on the Linga as the vast, deathless Reality.