Linga Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 104
देवैर्विष्णोः शरणागमनम्—शिवलिङ्गस्थापनं, शिवसहस्रनामस्तवः, सुदर्शनचक्रप्रदानं च
आशुशब्दपतिर्वेगी प्लवनः शिखिसारथिः असंसृष्टो ऽतिथिः शक्रः प्रमाथी पापनाशनः
āśuśabdapatirvegī plavanaḥ śikhisārathiḥ asaṃsṛṣṭo 'tithiḥ śakraḥ pramāthī pāpanāśanaḥ
He is the Lord of the swift-sounding mantra, impetuous and rapid; the one who carries beings across saṃsāra; the charioteer of the Fire-born, Skanda. Untainted by contact, He is the Atithi, the ever-arriving Guest within all hearts; the mighty ruler, subduer of hostile forces, and destroyer of sin—Śiva, the Pati who loosens the pāśa binding the paśu.
Suta Goswami (narrating the Shiva Sahasranama to the sages of Naimisharanya)
FAQs
These names praise Shiva as pāpanāśana (destroyer of sin) and plavana (the one who carries devotees across saṃsāra), reinforcing Linga-pūjā as a means to purify pāśas (bondages) and approach Pati (the Lord) through mantra and devotion.
Shiva is portrayed as asaṃsṛṣṭa—untainted and transcendent—yet also atithi, the indwelling presence who ‘arrives’ in every being; thus He is both beyond prakṛti and intimately present as the liberating Pati of the paśu.
The emphasis on śabda-pati (lord of mantra) points to mantra-japa and Linga-arcana supported by Pāśupata discipline—using sacred sound and worship to dissolve pāpa and loosen the bonds of the soul.