Shloka 14
रावणस्य तपः-शिवानुग्रहः — Rāvaṇa’s Austerity and Śiva’s Bestowal of Grace
शिव उवाच । श्रूयतां राक्षसश्रेष्ठ वचो मे सारवत्तया । नीयतां स्वगृहे मे हि सद्भक्त्या लिंगमुत्तमम्
śiva uvāca | śrūyatāṃ rākṣasaśreṣṭha vaco me sāravattayā | nīyatāṃ svagṛhe me hi sadbhaktyā liṃgamuttamam
Śiva said: “Listen, O best among the Rākṣasas, to my words, rich in essential meaning. Take that supreme Liṅga to your own home, and worship it with true devotion.”
Lord Shiva
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Liṅgodbhava
Sthala Purana: Śiva redirects Rāvaṇa: not ‘taking Śiva’ bodily, but taking the ‘supreme liṅga’ to one’s home for worship. This is the seed of many liṅga-sthala origin stories where a divinely empowered liṅga becomes fixed at a place due to a condition (often: if set down, it cannot be lifted again).
Significance: Affirms liṅga-upāsanā as the normative, accessible mode of Śiva worship; emphasizes sadbhakti (true devotion) as the key that converts a material object into a locus of divine presence and grace.
Type: stotra
Role: teaching
Offering: pushpa
FAQs
Śiva emphasizes that the highest approach is sadbhakti—sincere, essence-filled devotion—through which even a being of rākṣasa nature can be uplifted by honoring the supreme Liṅga, moving toward Śiva’s grace and liberation.
The Liṅga is the accessible, sacred form (saguṇa-upāsanā) through which devotees approach the transcendent Śiva. Śiva here authorizes and sanctifies Liṅga worship, indicating that devotion to the Liṅga becomes a direct channel for receiving Śiva’s presence and blessing.
The takeaway is home-based Liṅga upāsanā with sadbhakti—daily respectful placement and worship (pūjā, abhiṣeka, mantra-japa such as the Pañcākṣarī “Om Namaḥ Śivāya”), performed with purity of intention rather than mere display.