Shloka 3
ज्योतिर्लिङ्गमाहात्म्य-प्रस्तावना तथा सोमनाथ-प्रसङ्गः
Prologue to the Glory and Origin of the Jyotirliṅgas; Somnātha Episode Begins
एतेषां चैव माहात्म्यं वक्तुं वर्षशतैरपि । शक्यते न मुनिश्रेष्ठास्तथापि कथयामि वः
eteṣāṃ caiva māhātmyaṃ vaktuṃ varṣaśatairapi | śakyate na muniśreṣṭhāstathāpi kathayāmi vaḥ
O best of sages, the full greatness of these—Śiva’s holy manifestations and sacred places—cannot be told even in hundreds of years. Yet, for your sake, I shall still relate it.
Suta Goswami (Sūta) addressing the sages at Naimisharanya
Tattva Level: pati
Sthala Purana: Sets the theological tone of ananta-mahima: Śiva’s manifestations/holy sites are inexhaustible in glory; narration is necessarily partial and grace-dependent.
Significance: Cultivates humility and receptivity; frames pilgrimage narratives as pointers to the infinite (ananta) rather than exhaustive history.
FAQs
It teaches that Śiva’s mahātmya—His sacred presence in holy forms and places—transcends speech and time; still, listening with faith grants merit because devotion (bhakti) opens the heart where words cannot fully reach.
By admitting the limits of description, the text points the devotee beyond mere information toward direct reverence of Saguna Śiva as manifested in the Liṅga and in tīrthas—where His grace is experienced rather than exhaustively defined.
The implied practice is śravaṇa (devotional listening) and smaraṇa (remembrance) of Śiva’s mahātmya—ideally alongside japa of the Pañcākṣarī “Om Namaḥ Śivāya,” as preparation for pilgrimage or Liṅga-pūjā.