Shloka 27
जलंधरयुद्धे मायाप्रयोगः — Jalandhara’s Māyā in the Battle with Śiva
कृत्वार्णवांभसि शितं भगवान्रथांगं स्मृत्वा जगत्त्रयमनेन हतं पुरारिः । दक्षान्धकांतकपुरत्रययज्ञहंता लोकत्रयांतककरः प्रहसन्नुवाच
kṛtvārṇavāṃbhasi śitaṃ bhagavānrathāṃgaṃ smṛtvā jagattrayamanena hataṃ purāriḥ | dakṣāndhakāṃtakapuratrayayajñahaṃtā lokatrayāṃtakakaraḥ prahasannuvāca
Having sharpened his discus in the waters of the ocean, the Blessed Lord—Śiva, foe of the cities—remembered how by this very weapon the three worlds had once been subdued. The destroyer of Dakṣa’s sacrifice, the slayer of Andhaka, the annihilator of the three cities, he who can bring the three worlds to their end—smiling, he spoke.
Sūta Gosvāmin (narrating Shiva’s actions; then Shiva speaks next)
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Tripurāntaka
Type: stotra
Cosmic Event: Implicit pralaya-capacity: ‘lokatrayāṃtakaraḥ’ (able to end the three worlds)
FAQs
It presents Shiva as Pati (the supreme Lord) whose power governs creation, preservation, and dissolution. His smile before speaking indicates sovereign mastery—cosmic acts like ending worlds are, for him, effortless expressions of divine will, reminding devotees that liberation comes by surrender to Shiva beyond fear.
The verse highlights Saguna Shiva—Tripurāntaka, destroyer of Tripura and Daksha’s sacrifice—whose compassionate yet awe-inspiring deeds are contemplated in Linga worship. In Shaiva Siddhanta, such narratives support devotion (bhakti) to the manifest Lord while pointing to his transcendence beyond the worlds he can dissolve.
A practical takeaway is dhyāna on Shiva as Tripurāntaka while chanting the Pañcākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”), offering water (jala) to the Linga as a symbol of inner purification—like the ‘sharpening’ of divine discernment that cuts through the threefold bondage.