Shloka 13
Dāruvana-parīkṣā: Śaṅkara’s Test and the Linga’s Ritual-Theological Grounding
अलिलिंगुस्तथा चान्याः करं धृत्या तथापराः । परस्परं तु संघर्षात्संमग्नास्ताः स्त्रियस्तदा
aliliṃgustathā cānyāḥ karaṃ dhṛtyā tathāparāḥ | parasparaṃ tu saṃgharṣātsaṃmagnāstāḥ striyastadā
Some women embraced one another closely, while others held each other by the hand. In that moment, through their mutual jostling and pressing together, those women became completely absorbed in the commotion.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Bhikṣāṭana
Sthala Purana: Not tied to a Jyotirliṅga; it continues the forest-episode’s social-psychological turbulence produced by Śiva’s presence.
Significance: Instructional value: observe how māyā-driven agitation spreads through groups; steadiness (dhairya) and devotion are the antidotes leading toward receptivity to grace.
FAQs
The verse depicts worldly excitement and mutual entanglement, a common Purāṇic way of showing how the mind becomes absorbed in external movement; Shaiva Siddhanta contrasts this with steadiness gained through devotion to Pati (Śiva), who alone grants inner freedom.
By portraying absorption in commotion, it implicitly points to the need for centering the senses in Saguna Shiva worship—Linga-darśana, japa, and pūjā—so attention turns from crowd-mind to the Lord who is present as the Jyotirlinga.
A practical takeaway is to counter distraction with mantra-japa (especially the Panchakshara, "Om Namaḥ Śivāya"), and to support focus with Tripuṇḍra bhasma and Rudrākṣa as aids for recollection of Shiva.