Linga Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 31

अध्याय 91: अरिष्ट-लक्षण, मृत्यु-संस्कार, पाशुपत-धारणा तथा ओङ्कार-उपासना

Devanagari script

श्वभ्रे यो निपतेत्स्वप्ने द्वारं चापि पिधीयते न चोत्तिष्ठति यः श्वभ्रात् तदन्तं तस्य जीवितम्

Transliteration

śvabhre yo nipatetsvapne dvāraṃ cāpi pidhīyate na cottiṣṭhati yaḥ śvabhrāt tadantaṃ tasya jīvitam

Translation

If, in a dream, one falls into a pit, and even the door is shut, and one does not rise up from that pit—this is declared to be the very limit of that person’s lifespan.

Word by Word

• श्वभ्रे (śvabhre): in a pit, in a hole

• यः (yaḥ): who, whoever

• निपतेत् (nipatet): falls

• स्वप्ने (svapne): in a dream

• द्वारम् (dvāram): door, gate

• च (ca): and

• अपि (api): also, even

• पिधीयते (pidhīyate): is closed, is shut

• न (na): not

• च (ca): and

• उत्तिष्ठति (uttiṣṭhati): rises up, gets up

• यः (yaḥ): who

• श्वभ्रात् (śvabhrāt): from the pit

• तत्-अन्तम् (tad-antam): that end, that limit

• तस्य (tasya): of that (person)

• जीवितम् (jīvitam): life, lifespan

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating Linga Purana teachings to the sages of Naimisharanya)

Characters & Entities

• Shiva

FAQs

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

It functions as a warning-nimitta: when mortality is felt as imminent, the pashu is urged toward Shiva-śaraṇāgati—intensifying Linga-puja, japa, and purification—so bondage (pāśa) loosens through devotion to Pati (Shiva).

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

Though the verse speaks of death-signs, the implied Shaiva frame is that Shiva as Pati is beyond birth and death; the dream shows the pashu’s karmic limit, while refuge in Shiva-tattva points to the deathless ground that transcends such limits.

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

No specific rite is named in the shloka; contextually it supports prayāścitta and intensified Shiva-sādhana—Linga-abhisheka, Rudra-japa, and Pāśupata-style vairāgya (detachment) in response to inauspicious svapna-nimittas.