Shloka 10
मित्रसह-राज्ञो रक्षत्व-शापकथा — The Curse that Turns King Mitrasaha into a Rakshasa
Vasiṣṭha’s Śāpa Narrative
गुरुरुवाच । धिक् त्वां नरामिषं राजंस्त्वयैतच्छद्मकारिणा । खलेनोपहृतं मह्यं ततो रक्षो भविष्यसि
gururuvāca | dhik tvāṃ narāmiṣaṃ rājaṃstvayaitacchadmakāriṇā | khalenopahṛtaṃ mahyaṃ tato rakṣo bhaviṣyasi
The Guru said: “Shame upon you, O king—one who lives on human flesh! By your deceit, what was due to me has been taken away by a wicked one. Therefore you shall become a rākṣasa, a demonic being.”
Guru
Sthala Purana: Colophon identifies the chapter as ‘Mahābāhu-Śiva-liṅga-māhātmya-varṇana’; it signals a local liṅga-glory narrative rather than a Jyotirliṅga episode in this specific verse.
Significance: Marks textual closure; in recitation practice, the colophon is treated as a phala-śruti boundary and a cue for concluding salutations.
FAQs
It stresses the Shaiva ethical law that adharma—especially deceit and harmful intent—ripens into painful karmic transformation, obstructing purity needed for Shiva-bhakti and liberation.
Kotirudra narratives around Jyotirlinga pilgrimage repeatedly teach that outer worship bears fruit when supported by inner dharma; fraud and violence make one unfit for the grace associated with Saguna Shiva’s sacred abodes.
A practical takeaway is dharma-sādhana alongside Shiva-upāsanā: truthful speech, non-deceit, and repentance (prāyaścitta) with japa of the Panchākṣarī mantra—“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”—to purify intention.