Shloka 21
जलंधरयुद्धे मायाप्रयोगः — Jalandhara’s Māyā in the Battle with Śiva
वृषस्तेन प्रहारेण परवृत्तो रणांगणात् । रुद्रेण कृश्यमाणोऽपि न तस्थौ रणभूमिषु
vṛṣastena prahāreṇa paravṛtto raṇāṃgaṇāt | rudreṇa kṛśyamāṇo'pi na tasthau raṇabhūmiṣu
Struck by that blow upon the bull (Vṛṣa), he turned back from the battlefield; and though being worn down by Rudra, he could not hold his ground anywhere on the field of war.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Rudra
FAQs
It portrays the inevitability of Rudra’s supremacy: when the soul (pashu) is confronted with the Lord’s power, the forces of pride and resistance lose stability and must retreat. In Shaiva Siddhanta terms, Pati alone is unconquerable, and all limited powers collapse before Him.
Rudra here is Saguna Shiva—the Lord active in protection and dissolution—whose presence makes opposing forces unable to ‘stand’ in their delusion. Linga-worship trains the devotee to recognize this same unshakable Lord as the inner support, so the mind stops fleeing into agitation and returns to steadiness.
A practical takeaway is steady japa of the Panchakshara—“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”—to dissolve inner resistance, along with Tripuṇḍra (bhasma) remembrance of impermanence; both cultivate the humility and surrender implied by retreat before Rudra’s unstoppable force.