Shloka 24

Devanagari script

यानि यानीह दानानि बहुमुन्युदितानि च । जीवाभयप्रदानस्य कलां नार्हंति षोडशीम्

Transliteration

yāni yānīha dānāni bahumunyuditāni ca | jīvābhayapradānasya kalāṃ nārhaṃti ṣoḍaśīm

Translation

Whatever gifts are enjoined here by many sages—none of those charities equals even a sixteenth part of the merit gained by granting abhayā, fearlessness and protection, to living beings.

Word by Word

• yāni: which (things)
• yāni: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), बहुवचन; relative pronoun used adjectivally

• yāni: whatever (those)
• yāni: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), बहुवचन; emphatic repetition

• iha: here
• iha: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iha (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; adverb (क्रियाविशेषण)

• dānāni: gifts, donations
• dānāni: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), बहुवचन

• bahu-muni-uditāni: declared by many sages
• bahu-muni-uditāni: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bahu (प्रातिपदिक) + muni (प्रातिपदिक) + ud-ita (कृदन्त, √vad/√vac?; here ud-ita = 'uttered/declared', from √vad 'to speak')
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), बहुवचन; समासः—बहूनां मुनीनां उदितानि (genitive tatpuruṣa)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; conjunction (समुच्चय)

• jīva-abhaya-pradānasya: of the granting of fearlessness to living beings
• jīva-abhaya-pradānasya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jīva (प्रातिपदिक) + abhaya (प्रातिपदिक) + pradāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6), एकवचन; समासः—जीवानाम् अभयस्य प्रदानम् (tatpuruṣa chain)

• kalām: a fraction, a part
• kalām: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kalā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन

• na: not
• na: Pratishedha (प्रतिषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; negation particle (निषेध)

• arhanti: are worthy of, equal
• arhanti: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √arh (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• ṣoḍaśīm: sixteenth
• ṣoḍaśīm: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ṣoḍaśī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), एकवचन; ordinal/denom. 'sixteenth' qualifying kalām

Speaker

Suta Goswami

Shaiva Theology

Tattva Level: pashu

Shiva Form: Mahādeva

Jyotirlinga Context

Sthala Purana: Not a sthala narrative; it uses a merit-comparison trope (‘not even a sixteenth part’) to absolutize the superiority of jīva-abhaya-pradāna as dharma most aligned with Śiva’s grace.

Significance: Teaches that the highest ‘tīrtha’ is the removal of fear for living beings; pilgrimage merit is ethically amplified by protection of life.

Shakti Dimension

Role: liberating

FAQs

What is the spiritual significance of this verse in the Shiva Purana?

It elevates abhaya-dāna—protecting life and removing fear—as the highest form of dharma, surpassing ordinary material charities, aligning with Shaiva ethics of compassion that purify the soul and aid liberation.

How does this verse relate to the worship of the Linga or Saguna Shiva?

Linga-worship is not merely ritual; it is fulfilled by living Shiva-dharma—seeing the Lord as the inner Self of all beings and therefore offering protection and non-harm as an embodied form of devotion.

What ritualistic or meditative practice is suggested here?

Practice ahimsa with deliberate vows (protecting creatures, feeding and sheltering beings), and pair it with Shaiva japa such as the Panchakshara (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) to internalize compassion as worship.