Shloka 14
यतिप्रायश्चित्तविधानम्
Ascetic Atonements and Discipline
एवं कृत्वा सुदुष्टात्मा भिन्नवृत्तो व्रताच्च्युतः भूयो निर्वेदमापन्नश् चरेच्चान्द्रायणं व्रतम्
evaṃ kṛtvā suduṣṭātmā bhinnavṛtto vratāccyutaḥ bhūyo nirvedamāpannaś careccāndrāyaṇaṃ vratam
Having acted in that way, a person of corrupted intent—whose conduct has become fractured and who has fallen away from his vow—should again, with genuine remorse, undertake the Cāndrāyaṇa vow as an expiation, so that the paśu (bound soul) may loosen the pāśa (bondage) and return to the path that leads toward Pati, Śiva.
Suta Goswami (narrating śāstric injunctions within the Linga Purana to the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya)
FAQs
It teaches that lapses in vrata connected to Shiva-dharma are not the end; through prescribed expiation like Cāndrāyaṇa, the devotee regains ritual and inner eligibility to continue Linga-oriented worship with purity.
Shiva is implied as Pati—the liberating Lord—toward whom the paśu returns by removing pāśa (impurity and demerit) through remorse and disciplined penance, aligning with Shaiva Siddhanta’s purification-to-grace trajectory.
Cāndrāyaṇa-vrata is highlighted—an expiatory, moon-phased discipline of regulated intake and restraint—used as prāyaścitta to restore broken observances and re-establish self-control supportive of Shaiva sādhanā.