Shloka 18
ज्योतिर्लिङ्गमाहात्म्य-प्रस्तावना तथा सोमनाथ-प्रसङ्गः
Prologue to the Glory and Origin of the Jyotirliṅgas; Somnātha Episode Begins
दक्ष उवाच । श्रूयतां चन्द्र यत्पूर्वं प्रार्थितो बहुधा मया । न मानितं त्वया यस्मात्तस्मात्त्वं च क्षयी भव
dakṣa uvāca | śrūyatāṃ candra yatpūrvaṃ prārthito bahudhā mayā | na mānitaṃ tvayā yasmāttasmāttvaṃ ca kṣayī bhava
Dakṣa said: “Hear me, O Candra. Formerly I entreated you many times, but you did not honor my request. Therefore you shall become one who wanes—subject to decline.”
Daksha
Tattva Level: pashu
Sthala Purana: Not a Jyotirliṅga origin; Dakṣa’s curse initiates Candra’s kṣaya (waning), a cosmic diminishment later counterbalanced by Śiva’s restorative grace in the wider tradition.
Significance: Teaches the inexorability of karma and authoritative speech (śāpa) within dharmic order; points toward Śiva as the ultimate regulator who can temper consequences.
Type: stotra
Cosmic Event: Onset of lunar waning (kṣaya) as a cosmic regulation event triggered by śāpa.
FAQs
The verse highlights the moral law of karma: disregard for righteous counsel and relational duty leads to decline. From a Shaiva lens, it also implies that worldly brilliance (like the Moon’s radiance) is unstable when pride and disregard for dharma arise; stability is found by aligning the will with higher order and ultimately with Shiva, the supreme Pati.
Though Shiva is not named in this line, the narrative framework of the Shiva Purana commonly resolves such cosmic afflictions through Shiva’s grace. The waning condition becomes a reminder that all created powers are limited and seek refuge in Saguna Shiva—often approached through Linga worship—who restores balance and grants protection within dharma.
A practical takeaway is daily self-restraint and humility supported by japa of the Panchakshara mantra (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) to purify ego-driven tendencies that lead to downfall; in traditional Shaiva practice, this may be paired with Tripuṇḍra (bhasma) and Rudrāksha as aids for steadiness and remembrance of Shiva.