Shloka 85
देवैर्विष्णोः शरणागमनम्—शिवलिङ्गस्थापनं, शिवसहस्रनामस्तवः, सुदर्शनचक्रप्रदानं च
उत्तारको दुष्कृतिहा दुर्धर्षो दुःसहो ऽभयः अनादिर्भूर्भुवोलक्ष्मीः किरीटी त्रिदशाधिपः
uttārako duṣkṛtihā durdharṣo duḥsaho 'bhayaḥ anādirbhūrbhuvolakṣmīḥ kirīṭī tridaśādhipaḥ
He is the Deliverer who ferries beings beyond bondage; the Destroyer of demerit; the Unassailable and the Unendurable to the forces of ignorance; the Fearless Refuge. Beginningless is he—the very prosperity of earth and heaven—the Crowned Lord, the Sovereign of the gods.
Suta Goswami (narrating the Shiva Sahasranama to the sages of Naimisharanya)
FAQs
These names present Shiva as Uttāraka and Abhaya—Pati who removes pāśa (bondage) and grants fearlessness; Linga worship is framed as refuge in the beginningless Lord who purifies demerit and elevates the pashu toward liberation.
Shiva-tattva is shown as anādi (beginningless), durdharṣa (unconquerable), and duḥsaha (irresistible to adharma), while also being the compassionate deliverer who destroys duṣkṛti and becomes the sustaining splendor of the worlds.
The verse supports Pashupata-oriented practice: taking Shiva as the fearless refuge (abhaya) through japa of these names and steady Linga-upāsanā for pāpa-kṣaya and saṁsāra-tāraṇa (crossing worldly bondage).