Shloka 83
मेनायाः क्रोध-विलापः — Menā’s Lament and Reproach
to the Sage
ब्रह्मोवाच । अथोवाच तु तान्मेना विलप्य च मुहुर्मुहुः । न देया तु मया सम्यग्गिरिशायोग्ररूपिणे
brahmovāca | athovāca tu tānmenā vilapya ca muhurmuhuḥ | na deyā tu mayā samyaggiriśāyograrūpiṇe
Brahmā said: Then Menā, again and again lamenting, spoke to them: “Truly, I should not properly give (my daughter) to Girīśa, who bears a fearsome form.”
Brahma
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Bhairava
Sthala Purana: Not a Jyotirliṅga episode; the verse belongs to the Himavān–Menā household narrative where Menā fears Śiva’s ugra (awe-inspiring) appearance and hesitates about the marriage.
Significance: Frames the bhakta’s initial fear/aversion (bheda-buddhi) toward Śiva’s ‘terrible’ iconography, which later ripens into acceptance and grace.
Shakti Form: Pārvatī
Role: liberating
FAQs
It shows how worldly perception fears Śiva’s “ugra” appearance, while the Purāṇa leads the devotee to recognize Him as the supreme Pati—both awe-inspiring and compassionate—worthy of surrender beyond social or sensory judgments.
Menā reacts to Śiva’s visible, ascetic-fierce (saguṇa) form; Linga-worship trains the mind to see the same Śiva as the formless ground of grace, so that fear of outward appearance is replaced by reverence and devotion.
A practical takeaway is steady japa of the Pañcākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) to purify fear and doubt, along with simple Śiva-upāsanā such as offering water to the liṅga with a calm, surrendered mind.