Shloka 40
जलंधरयुद्धे मायाप्रयोगः — Jalandhara’s Māyā in the Battle with Śiva
गरुडोऽपि मया बद्धो नागपाशेन विष्णुना । उर्वश्याद्या मयानीता नार्यः कारागृहांतरम्
garuḍo'pi mayā baddho nāgapāśena viṣṇunā | urvaśyādyā mayānītā nāryaḥ kārāgṛhāṃtaram
Even Garuḍa was bound by me with the Nāga-pāśa, the serpent-noose, though he is protected by Viṣṇu. And Urvaśī and the other celestial women were carried off by me into the inner chambers of my prison.
The demon-king antagonist in the Yuddhakhaṇḍa (boasting of his deeds), as narrated by Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Significance: Serves as a negative exemplar: bondage through pāśa (serpent-noose) and coercive desire—prompting discernment (viveka) and turning toward Śiva’s anugraha rather than asuric power.
FAQs
It portrays the arrogance of adharma: the asura boasts of binding even mighty beings. In Shaiva Siddhanta, such “bondage” (pāśa) symbolizes the deluding power of ego and violence that ultimately collapses before the higher order upheld by Pati (Śiva).
The Yuddhakhaṇḍa narrative frames conflict as the consequence of adharma; devotion to Saguna Śiva (as protector and judge of karma) is presented as refuge from oppression and as the force that restores dharma, which Linga-worship ritually affirms.
Meditate on release from pāśa (bondage) by japa of the Pañcākṣarī—“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”—with a vow of non-harm and self-restraint; this directly counters the violent, possessive mindset depicted in the verse.