Shloka 17

Śiva-jñāna and the Non-dual Vision of a Śiva-maya Universe (शिवज्ञानम्—सर्वं शिवमयम्)

Devanagari script

कार्यकारणयोर्भेदो वस्तुतो न प्रवर्तते । केवलं भ्रान्तिबुद्ध्यैव तदाभावे स नश्यति

Transliteration

kāryakāraṇayorbhedo vastuto na pravartate | kevalaṃ bhrāntibuddhyaiva tadābhāve sa naśyati

Translation

In truth, the difference between effect and cause does not actually operate. It exists only through deluded understanding; when that delusion is absent, the notion of difference disappears.

Word by Word

• कार्य-कारणयोः: of effect and cause
• कार्य-कारणयोः: सम्बन्ध (Sambandha/Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कार्य (प्रातिपदिक) + कारण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वन्द्व-समास; नपुंसकलिङ्ग (समाहार-द्वन्द्व), षष्ठी-विभक्ति (6th/Genitive), द्विवचन; ‘of effect and cause’

• भेदः: difference
• भेदः: कर्ता (Karta/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भेद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• वस्तुतः: in reality
• वस्तुतः: सम्बन्ध (Sambandha/Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वस्तुतः (अव्यय; वस्तु-तस्)
• Form: तसिल्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (adverb: ‘in reality’)

• न: not
• न: सम्बन्ध (Sambandha/Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय

• प्रवर्तते: operates/occurs
• प्रवर्तते: क्रिया (Kriyā/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र√वृत् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• केवलम्: only/merely
• केवलम्: सम्बन्ध (Sambandha/Restriction)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: केवल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव/क्रियाविशेषणवत् प्रयोग (adverbial accusative: ‘only/merely’)

• भ्रान्ति-बुद्ध्या: by deluded understanding
• भ्रान्ति-बुद्ध्या: करण (Karaṇa/Instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भ्रान्ति (प्रातिपदिक) + बुद्धि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (भ्रान्तेः बुद्धिः); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• एव: alone/indeed
• एव: सम्बन्ध (Sambandha/Emphasis)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारण-अव्यय

• तद्-अभावे: in its absence
• तद्-अभावे: अधिकरण (Adhikaraṇa/Locative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + अभाव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (‘its absence’); पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• सः: it/that (difference)
• सः: कर्ता (Karta/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• नश्यति: perishes/disappears
• नश्यति: क्रिया (Kriyā/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: नश् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

Speaker

Suta Goswami

Shaiva Theology

Tattva Level: pasha

Shiva Form: Dakṣiṇāmūrti

Jyotirlinga Context

Significance: Encourages viveka during darśana: seeing kārya-kāraṇa bheda as a cognition-level construct that dissolves with right knowledge, making worship a means to remove bheda-buddhi.

Shakti Dimension

Role: teaching

Characters & Entities

• Shiva

FAQs

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

It teaches that bondage is sustained by mistaken cognition: when ignorance is removed through Shiva-knowledge, dualistic notions like rigid cause–effect separateness lose their hold, opening the way to liberation.

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

Linga-worship begins with Saguna reverence—seeing Shiva as the Lord to be approached—yet it matures into insight that Shiva is the underlying Reality in which apparent distinctions arise and dissolve; thus devotion leads into knowledge.

What ritualistic or meditative practice is suggested here?

Meditate on Shiva while repeating the Panchakshara (Om Namaḥ Śivāya), observing how thoughts construct differences; steady japa and inner contemplation reduce bhrānti (delusion) and reveal the one Lord as the ground of experience.