Shloka 126

Śiva-nāma-sahasraka-kathana

The Recital/Teaching of the Thousand Names of Śiva

Devanagari script

कालपक्षः कालकालः सुकृती कृतवासुकिः । महेष्वासो महीभर्ता निष्कलंको विशृंखल

Transliteration

kālapakṣaḥ kālakālaḥ sukṛtī kṛtavāsukiḥ | maheṣvāso mahībhartā niṣkalaṃko viśṛṃkhala

Translation

He is the very phase and measure of Time, and also the Death of Death—the One who transcends Time. He performs auspicious merit and subdues Vāsuki; the great archer, the supporter of the earth; spotless and utterly unbound.

Word by Word

• कालपक्षः: the wing/side of Time
• कालपक्षः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल (प्रातिपदिक) + पक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (कालस्य पक्षः); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• कालकालः: the Time of Time (death/time itself)
• कालकालः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल (प्रातिपदिक) + काल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय (कालः एव कालः / ‘Time of time’, intensifying); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• सुकृती: virtuous, meritorious
• सुकृती: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सुकृतिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• कृतवासुकिः: he who dealt with/used Vāsuki
• कृतवासुकिः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृत (कृ धातु + क्त) + वासुकि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष (वासुकिं कृतवान्/कृत-वासुकिः; ‘one who made/handled Vāsuki’—epithet); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• महेष्वासः: great archer (great bowman)
• महेष्वासः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महत् (प्रातिपदिक) + इष्वास (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष (महान् इष्वासः/महदिष्वासः); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• महीभर्ता: supporter/lord of the earth
• महीभर्ता: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मही (प्रातिपदिक) + भर्तृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (महीम् भर्ता/महीभर्ता); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• निष्कलंकः: spotless, without blemish
• निष्कलंकः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निः (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + कलङ्क (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नञ्/निः-पूर्वक तत्पुरुष (कलङ्क-रहितः); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• विशृंखल: unfettered, unchained
• विशृंखल: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वि (उपसर्ग) + शृंखल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषणम्; पाठान्तरं ‘विशृङ्खलः’ (ending -ः) अपेक्षितम्

Speaker

Suta Goswami

Shaiva Theology

Tattva Level: pati

Shiva Form: Kālāntaka

Jyotirlinga Context

Jyotirlinga: Mahākāleśvara

Sthala Purana: Śiva is hailed as Mahākāla—Time’s lord—who protects devotees from the terror of death; the Ujjayinī liṅga is revered as the sovereign of kāla, granting fearlessness and mokṣa-oriented detachment.

Significance: Darśana/abhisheka is sought for relief from fear of death, kāla-doṣa, and for steadiness in sādhanā; emblematic of Śiva as kālakāla.

Mantra Metadata

Type: stotra

Shakti Dimension

Shakti Form: Kālī

Role: destructive

Cosmic Context

Cosmic Event: kāla-tattva framed as transcended (kālakāla), implying lordship over dissolution and death.

Characters & Entities

• Shiva
• Vasuki

FAQs

What is the spiritual significance of this verse in the Shiva Purana?

This verse praises Shiva as the Lord who both governs Time and transcends it, teaching that liberation arises by taking refuge in the stainless, unbound Pati who cuts the bonds of death and limitation.

How does this verse relate to the worship of the Linga or Saguna Shiva?

These epithets are used in Saguna worship—adoring Shiva with names and attributes—yet they point to his Nirguna truth as the one beyond Time and bondage, which the Linga signifies as the limitless reality.

What ritualistic or meditative practice is suggested here?

Meditate on Shiva as “Kālakāla” while chanting the Pañcākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya), contemplating him as viśṛṅkhala (unbound) and praying for release from pāśa (bondage) and fear of death.