Shloka 22

Varaha-Pradurbhava Context: Prahlada’s Bhakti, Narasimha’s Ugra-Form, and Shiva’s Sharabha Intervention

Devanagari script

परात्परतरं ब्रह्म तत्त्वात् तत्त्वतमं भवान् ज्योतिषां तु परं ज्योतिः परमात्मा जगन्मयः

Transliteration

parātparataraṃ brahma tattvāt tattvatamaṃ bhavān jyotiṣāṃ tu paraṃ jyotiḥ paramātmā jaganmayaḥ

Translation

You are Brahman beyond the beyond, the most essential Reality beyond all principles (tattvas). Among all lights, You are the Supreme Light—the Paramātman who pervades and becomes the entire cosmos.

Word by Word

• परात् (parāt): beyond

• परतरम् (parataram): still higher, beyond even that

• ब्रह्म (brahma): Brahman, the Absolute

• तत्त्वात् (tattvāt): than/ beyond the tattva-principles

• तत्त्वतमम् (tattvatamam): the most real/most essential principle

• भवान् (bhavān): You (Lord Shiva)

• ज्योतिषाम् (jyotiṣām): of lights, of luminous beings/illuminations

• तु (tu): indeed

• परम् (param): supreme

• ज्योतिः (jyotiḥ): light, radiance, consciousness-light

• परमात्मा (paramātmā): the Supreme Self

• जगन्मयः (jaganmayaḥ): pervading the world, constituted as the universe

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating a hymn/praise within the Purva-Bhaga context)

Characters & Entities

• Shiva

FAQs

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

It frames the Linga as the symbol of Shiva’s supreme, all-pervading Consciousness-Light (paraṁ jyotiḥ), making Linga-puja a contemplation of the Absolute rather than mere external form.

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

Shiva is presented as Pati—the Paramatman beyond all tattvas (categories of manifestation), the highest Reality from which creation appears and by which it is pervaded (jaganmayaḥ).

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

Jyoti-dhyana (meditation on the inner Light) aligned with Pashupata-oriented insight: seeing the Self as dependent Pashu and Shiva as the transcendent yet immanent Light (Pati) who dissolves pasha (bondage).