Shloka 29
Śiva-nāma-sahasraka-kathana
The Recital/Teaching of the Thousand Names of Śiva
आश्रमः क्षपणः क्षामो ज्ञानवानचलेश्वरः । प्रमाणभूतो दुर्ज्ञेयः सुपर्णो वायुवाहनः
āśramaḥ kṣapaṇaḥ kṣāmo jñānavānacaleśvaraḥ | pramāṇabhūto durjñeyaḥ suparṇo vāyuvāhanaḥ
He is the holy refuge (Āśrama), the Destroyer of sins, the austere and self-restrained One; he is the Lord of the Unmoving (Acalas), endowed with perfect knowledge. He is the very ground of true authority and right knowing, difficult to comprehend; he is the noble-winged One and the Rider borne by the wind.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Dakṣiṇāmūrti
Jyotirlinga: Kedāranātha
Sthala Purana: Śiva is praised as Acalēśvara—Lord of the immovable—evoking the Himalayan ‘acala’ setting; Kedāra traditions remember Śiva’s mountain-abiding presence and the sanctity of tapas and refuge.
Significance: Seeking refuge (āśrama) and purification (kṣapaṇa) through darśana and austerity; merit for sins removed and steadiness in jñāna.
Type: stotra
Role: teaching
FAQs
This verse lists Shiva’s liberating attributes: He is the refuge of disciplined seekers, the remover of impurity (pāśa), and the very standard of true knowledge—implying that liberation comes by taking shelter in Shiva, whose nature is ultimately hard to grasp by the ordinary mind.
By naming Shiva as both knowable through attributes (Saguna—refuge, Lord, remover of sins) and yet “difficult to know” (pointing beyond form), the verse supports Linga worship as a sacred focus that leads the devotee from accessible devotion toward realization of Shiva’s transcendent reality.
A practical takeaway is nāma-japa and dhyāna: repeat Om Namaḥ Śivāya while contemplating these names as Shiva’s qualities, combined with purificatory Shaiva observances such as Tripuṇḍra (bhasma) and Rudrākṣa to cultivate austerity, purity, and steady knowledge.