Shloka 32
स्वप्नवर्णनपूर्वकं संक्षेपशिवचरितवर्णनम् / Dream-Portents and a Concise Account of Śiva’s Career
विद्धोऽऽपि मार्गणैश्शम्भुर्विकृतिं नाप स प्रभुः । प्रेषितेन सुरैस्स्वात्ममोहनार्थं स्मरेण वै
viddho''pi mārgaṇaiśśambhurvikṛtiṃ nāpa sa prabhuḥ | preṣitena suraissvātmamohanārthaṃ smareṇa vai
Though struck by the arrows, Śambhu—the Supreme Lord—underwent no change at all. For Kāma had been dispatched by the gods only to delude His own Self; yet Śiva remained utterly unmoved.
Suta Goswami (narrating to the sages at Naimisharanya in the Pārvatīkhaṇḍa context)
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Mahādeva
Sthala Purana: This is the prelude to the Kāma episode: devas send Smara to ‘delude’ Śiva, but Śambhu remains unchanged—highlighting the Lord’s transcendence over kāma and māyā, and setting up the later burning of Kāma.
Significance: Devotees read this as assurance that Śiva is untouched by passions; contemplating it supports dispassion and steadiness in sādhanā.
FAQs
It teaches that Śiva, the Pati (Supreme Lord), is untouched by kāma and vikāra (inner disturbance); desire can bind the pashu (individual soul), but the Lord’s yogic consciousness remains eternally free and steady.
In Linga/Saguna worship, devotees contemplate Śiva as the unchanging reality within all change—offering passions and restlessness into the Linga as a symbol of surrender, seeking the Lord’s steadiness to dissolve inner delusion.
Practice japa of the Pañcākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) with breath-aware meditation and vairāgya (dispassion), mentally offering rising desire into Śiva; on Mahāśivarātri, intensify night-long japa and dhyāna for mastery over the senses.