Shloka 26
Śiva-nāma-sahasraka-kathana
The Recital/Teaching of the Thousand Names of Śiva
महाह्रदो महागर्तस्सिद्धोवृंदारवंदितः । व्याघ्रचर्मांबरो व्याली महाभूतो महानिधिः
mahāhrado mahāgartassiddhovṛṃdāravaṃditaḥ | vyāghracarmāṃbaro vyālī mahābhūto mahānidhiḥ
He is the vast sacred lake and the great abyss, adored by hosts of Siddhas and by the gods. Clad in a tiger-skin and bearing the serpent, He is the Great Being and the supreme treasure—the refuge of all.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Āghoramūrti
Sthala Purana: ‘Great lake’ and ‘great abyss’ are cosmological metaphors for Śiva as both the inexhaustible reservoir of grace and the unfathomable depth beyond thought. In Jyotirliṅga praise, such imagery supports the liṅga as the axis where the finite meets the infinite.
Significance: Invokes confidence that Śiva is the supreme refuge/treasure (mahānidhi) and the one praised by siddhas—pilgrimage and worship align the devotee with siddha-sangha and divine protection.
Type: stotra
Offering: pushpa
FAQs
The verse meditatively lists Shiva’s attributes to reveal Him as both immanent and transcendent: an inexhaustible reservoir (great lake), an unfathomable depth (great abyss), and the ultimate refuge (great treasure). In Shaiva Siddhanta, such praise steadies devotion (bhakti) and points the soul (paśu) toward the Lord (Pati) as the final support beyond bondage (pāśa).
These epithets function as dhyāna (contemplative visualization) for Saguna Shiva—tiger-skin garment and serpents—making the formless supreme reality approachable in Linga worship. In Jyotirlinga-oriented Kotirudra context, the devotee venerates Shiva in a concrete sacred form while understanding Him as the limitless depth and fullness behind that form.
Use the verse as a short dhyāna before Linga-pūjā: mentally visualize Shiva with vyāghracarma (tiger-skin) and serpents, then chant the Panchakshara mantra “Om Namaḥ Śivāya” while offering water (jalābhiṣeka) as a symbol of the ‘great lake’—Shiva as the inexhaustible source.