Shloka 41
त्रिपुरमोहनम्
Tripuramohana — “The Delusion/Enchanting of Tripura”
श्ववाय सकृमीणां च प्रातर्भोज्यमिदं वपुः । भस्मांतं तच्छरीरं च वेदे सत्यं प्रपठ्यते
śvavāya sakṛmīṇāṃ ca prātarbhojyamidaṃ vapuḥ | bhasmāṃtaṃ taccharīraṃ ca vede satyaṃ prapaṭhyate
This body, in the morning, is food for dogs and for worms. That body ends in ashes; this truth is indeed proclaimed in the Veda.
Sūta Gosvāmin
Tattva Level: pasha
Shiva Form: Mahākāla
Jyotirlinga: Mahākāleśvara
Sthala Purana: Mahākāla as the Lord of Time: the teaching that the body ends in ashes resonates with Ujjayinī’s Mahākāleśvara tradition where Śiva is worshipped as Kāla who consumes all; the Jyotirliṅga is famed as svayaṃbhū and as granting liberation from fear of death/time.
Significance: Remembrance of death (maraṇa-smṛti) and bhasma symbolism intensify vairāgya; darśana is held to relieve fear of time/death and strengthen Śiva-bhakti.
Type: stotra
Shakti Form: Kālī
Role: destructive
FAQs
It cultivates vairāgya (dispassion) by confronting the body’s fate—decay, consumption by creatures, and final reduction to ash—so the seeker turns toward Shiva (Pati) as the imperishable refuge and aims for liberation rather than bodily attachment.
By contrasting the perishable body with Shiva’s enduring presence, it supports Linga-worship as a stable focus for devotion: the Linga represents Shiva as the ever-present Lord beyond decay, guiding the devotee from transient identification to steadfast bhakti and grace.
It implicitly supports Bhasma/Tripuṇḍra practice and contemplation on bhasmānta-bhāva (the body’s ash-end), paired with japa of the Panchākṣarī “Om Namaḥ Śivāya,” as a daily reminder to seek purity, humility, and moksha.