Shloka 50
तुलसी-शङ्खचूडोपाख्यानम् — Viṣṇu’s Disguise and the Tulasī Episode
Prelude to Śaṅkhacūḍa’s Fall
तत्र कोट्यश्च कीटाश्च तीक्ष्णदंष्ट्रा भयंकराः । तच्छित्त्वा कुहरे चक्रं करिष्यंति तदीयकम्
tatra koṭyaśca kīṭāśca tīkṣṇadaṃṣṭrā bhayaṃkarāḥ | tacchittvā kuhare cakraṃ kariṣyaṃti tadīyakam
There, terrifying insects in crores, with razor-sharp fangs, will cut it down; and having severed it, they will fashion a wheel (cakra) within the hollow, making it their own.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pasha
Sthala Purana: Explains the physical-theological mechanism for Śālagrāma: countless sharp-toothed kīṭas carve and hollow the stone, producing cakra-like formations—natural ‘signatures’ that authorize worship and naming.
Significance: Validates the sanctity of naturally marked stones (svataḥ-pramāṇa): devotees seek stones with cakra-marks as self-manifest indicators of divinity.
Cosmic Event: Mythic natural process: living agents (kīṭa) become instruments in forming divine marks (cakra)
FAQs
It presents a vivid image of fear and destruction to underscore how beings caught in pasha (bondage)—especially violence and terror—create cycles that turn back upon them; liberation in Shaiva thought comes by taking refuge in Pati (Shiva) rather than in fear-driven power.
In the Yuddha narrative, such frightening imagery contrasts the unstable, fear-based realm with the steady refuge of Saguna Shiva; devotion to Shiva (often centered on the Linga) is portrayed as the means to transcend terror and karmic entanglement.
A practical takeaway is japa of the Pañcākṣarī mantra (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) to stabilize the mind amid भय (fear), along with Tripuṇḍra-bhasma remembrance of impermanence and surrender to Shiva as Pati.