Shloka 14
Bhaimaśaṅkara-māhātmya: Śiva’s Descent in Kāmarūpa and the Rise of Bhīma
पित्रोः पार्श्वे स्थिता चाहं निहते स्वामिनि प्रिये । पितरौ मे मृतौ चात्र ऋषिणा भस्मसात्कृतौ
pitroḥ pārśve sthitā cāhaṃ nihate svāmini priye | pitarau me mṛtau cātra ṛṣiṇā bhasmasātkṛtau
Beloved lady, I stood beside my parents when my husband was slain. Here my own parents too died, and a sage (ṛṣi) reduced them to ashes.
Suta Goswami (narrating a Jyotirlinga-related episode within Kotirudrasaṃhitā)
Tattva Level: pashu
Sthala Purana: Context is a grief-laden backstory (death of husband; parents reduced to ashes by a sage) that functions as narrative causality for later Śiva-related sacred geography, but this verse itself does not name a Jyotirliṅga or a specific sthala-māhātmya.
Significance: Implicit: remembrance of karmic consequence and the need for Śiva’s anugraha (grace) as the only true refuge for the bereft soul.
Shakti Form: Satī
Role: liberating
FAQs
It underscores impermanence and the painful ripening of karma, pushing the seeker toward Śiva as Pati—the refuge beyond loss—so grief becomes a catalyst for vairāgya (detachment) and devotion.
The imagery of being reduced to ashes naturally recalls bhasma and the Shaiva vision that all forms return to ash; worship of the Liṅga (Saguna symbol revealing Nirguna truth) anchors the mind in Śiva as the enduring Reality amid worldly destruction.
Contemplate bhasma as a reminder of mortality, apply Tripuṇḍra with reverence, and steady the mind with japa of the Pañcākṣarī “Om Namaḥ Śivāya,” transforming fear of death into remembrance of Śiva.