Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 10
प्रकृतितत्त्व-विचारः / Inquiry into Prakṛti (Nature/Śakti) and Śiva’s Transcendence
काल्युवाच । यदुक्तं भवता योगिन्वचनं शंकर प्रभो । सा च किं प्रकृतिर्न स्यादतीतस्तां भवान्कथम्
kālyuvāca | yaduktaṃ bhavatā yoginvacanaṃ śaṃkara prabho | sā ca kiṃ prakṛtirna syādatītastāṃ bhavānkatham
Kālī said: “O Lord Śaṅkara, O Master, that statement spoken by you, O supreme Yogi—would that reality you described not be Prakṛti? And if you are beyond Prakṛti, then how can you be related to her or spoken of in her terms?”
Kālī (Pārvatī in a fierce aspect)
Tattva Level: pasha
Shiva Form: Sadāśiva
Shakti Form: Kālī
Role: teaching
FAQs
It frames a key Shaiva question: if the manifested principle is Prakṛti (māyā), how can Śiva—who is Pati, the transcendent Lord—be spoken of in relation to it. The verse invites a clarification of Śiva’s lordship over māyā without being bound by it.
Devotees worship Śiva as Saguna (with attributes) through Liṅga and forms, yet this verse points to his Nirguna transcendence beyond Prakṛti. Liṅga-worship becomes a bridge: the symbol within the world leading the mind to the Lord beyond the world.
A practical takeaway is contemplative japa of the Pañcākṣarī—“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”—with discrimination (viveka) between Prakṛti (changing) and Śiva (unchanging Lord), supported by traditional Shaiva aids like bhasma (tripuṇḍra) and rudrākṣa for steadiness in meditation.