Shloka 27
Ghuśmā–Sudehā: Jealousy, Household Honor, and the Ethics of Śaiva Merit (गुश्मा–सुदेहा प्रसङ्गः)
येनैव चार्पितश्चायं स वै रक्षां करिष्यति । भक्तप्रियस्स विख्यातः कालकालस्सतां गतिः
yenaiva cārpitaścāyaṃ sa vai rakṣāṃ kariṣyati | bhaktapriyassa vikhyātaḥ kālakālassatāṃ gatiḥ
He to whom this offering has been made will surely grant protection. He is famed as the beloved of devotees, the “Death of Death” (the Lord who transcends Time), and the refuge and final goal of the righteous.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Mahākāla
Jyotirlinga: Mahākāleśvara
Sthala Purana: Śiva as Kālakāla/Mahākāla is praised as the one who overmasters Time and grants rakṣā to the devotee; the epithet resonates with Mahākāla’s Ujjayinī manifestation where the Lord is worshipped as the sovereign of time.
Significance: Protection from untimely death and fear of time; cultivation of surrender (śaraṇāgati) to the Lord who is ‘Death of Death’.
Type: stotra
Shakti Form: Kālī
Role: liberating
Offering: naivedya
Cosmic Event: Transcendence of Kāla (time/death) implied by the epithet Kālakāla
FAQs
The verse teaches that sincere offering (arpana) to Shiva is met with divine protection (rakṣā). In Shaiva Siddhanta, Shiva as Pati responds to bhakti by removing fear and guiding the devotee toward the highest refuge (satāṃ gatiḥ).
In Kotirudrasaṃhitā, devotion is commonly expressed through Linga worship and pilgrimage. This verse affirms Saguna Shiva’s grace: the Lord who receives the offering becomes the protector, showing the living relationship between devotee and the worshiped form.
Offerings made with faith—especially Linga abhiṣeka, daily arpaṇa with the Panchakshara mantra ("Om Namaḥ Śivāya"), and remembrance of Shiva as Kālakāla—are implied as practices that cultivate protection and inner fearlessness.