Shloka 71
मुनिमोहशमनम्
Pāśupata-yoga, Siddhis, Puruṣa-darśana, Saṃsāra, and Prāṇa-Rudra Pañcāhutī
पिशाचान्तः स विज्ञेयः स्वर्गस्थानेषु देहिनाम् ब्राह्मे तु केवलं सत्त्वं स्थावरे केवलं तमः
piśācāntaḥ sa vijñeyaḥ svargasthāneṣu dehinām brāhme tu kevalaṃ sattvaṃ sthāvare kevalaṃ tamaḥ
Among embodied beings who attain heavenly stations, one should understand the range to extend down even to the state of a piśāca. But in the Brahmā-world there is pure sattva alone, while in the realm of the immobile (sthāvara) there is tamas alone.
Suta Goswami (narrating the doctrinal gradation of beings and gunas to the sages at Naimisharanya)
FAQs
It frames why Shiva-puja and Linga-upasana are prescribed: embodied souls (pashu) move through graded states shaped by the gunas, and worship of Pati (Shiva) is the means to rise beyond tamas/rajas toward sattva and ultimately liberation beyond all gunas.
By contrasting realms dominated by sattva or tamas, it implicitly points to Shiva-tattva as transcendent to the three gunas—Pati who is not bound by the fluctuations that govern the pashu’s embodied destinies.
The takeaway aligns with Pashupata Yoga and Shaiva discipline: reduce tamas (inertia) and stabilize sattva through purity, mantra, and Linga-puja, using devotion and yogic restraint to loosen pasha (bondage) that drives lower rebirths.