Shloka 24
दक्षयज्ञे सत्या अपमानबोधः — Satī Encounters Disrespect at Dakṣa’s Sacrifice
शप्तेनापि च रुद्रेण यत्कृतं विस्मृतं कथम् । तल्लिंगेनाखिलं दग्धं भुवनं सचराचरम्
śaptenāpi ca rudreṇa yatkṛtaṃ vismṛtaṃ katham | talliṃgenākhilaṃ dagdhaṃ bhuvanaṃ sacarācaram
How could what was done—even under Rudra’s curse—be forgotten? By that very Liṅga, the entire world, with all that moves and all that is unmoving, was burned up completely.
Sūta Gosvāmin (narrating the Satīkhaṇḍa account to the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya)
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Rudra
Sthala Purana: Liṅga as Śiva’s manifest tejas: even when ‘cursed’, the Lord’s liṅga-power burns the cosmos—an assertion that no external agency can bind Pati; the ‘curse’ operates only as līlā/tirodhāna for instruction.
Significance: Instills reverence for Liṅga as the axis of cosmic power; warns that disrespect to Śiva leads to spiritual ‘burning’ (loss of merit, downfall).
Cosmic Event: pralaya-like conflagration (cosmic burning motif)
FAQs
It emphasizes Rudra’s supremacy and the Liṅga’s power to consume the entire manifested order—symbolizing that Shiva alone can dissolve karma and bondage (pāśa), leading the soul (paśu) toward liberation through His grace (anugraha).
The verse presents the Liṅga as the tangible focus of Saguna worship that also points to Shiva’s transcendent reality; the same divine presence that appears as the Liṅga governs creation and dissolution, making Liṅga-pūjā a direct approach to Shiva’s saving power.
A practical takeaway is steady Liṅga worship with the Panchākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) and contemplative remembrance of Shiva as the dissolver of impurities—offering inner surrender so that ego and karmic residues are ‘burned’ by awareness of Rudra.