Shloka 41
तारकवाक्य-शक्रविष्णुवीरभद्रयुद्धवर्णनम् — Account of Tāraka’s declarations and the battle involving Śakra (Indra), Viṣṇu, and Vīrabhadra
तारकेणाऽपि तत्रैव यत्कृतं कर्म दुःखदम् । स्वनाशकारणं धर्मविरुदं तन्निबोध मे
tārakeṇā'pi tatraiva yatkṛtaṃ karma duḥkhadam | svanāśakāraṇaṃ dharmavirudaṃ tannibodha me
Understand from me that the deed which Tāraka performed there itself—pain-giving, opposed to dharma, and becoming the very cause of his own ruin—was indeed so.
Sūta Gosvāmin
Tattva Level: pasha
Sthala Purana: Moral instruction within the Tāraka cycle: adharmic action becomes the seed of self-destruction—classic karmic bondage (pāśa) leading to downfall.
Significance: Ethical sādhanā: encourages dharma-aligned conduct and Śiva-bhakti to avoid self-made ruin; frames suffering as karmaphala.
FAQs
It teaches that adharma is intrinsically self-destructive: actions opposed to dharma ripen as suffering and become the cause of one’s downfall, binding the soul rather than leading it toward Shiva’s grace and liberation.
Linga-worship represents alignment with Shiva as the upholder of dharma; this verse contrasts that alignment with Tāraka’s dharma-violating conduct, implying that devotion must be supported by righteous living to avoid karmic ruin.
A practical takeaway is dharma-based sādhanā: daily japa of the Panchākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) with self-restraint and ethical conduct, so one’s karma becomes purifying rather than pain-giving.