Shloka 29
दुन्दुभिनिर्ह्रादनिर्णयः / Dundubhinirhrāda’s Stratagem: Targeting the Brāhmaṇas
रुद्रमायांतमालोक्य तद्भक्तार्चितलिंगतः । दैत्यस्तेनैव रूपेण ववृधे भूधरोपमः
rudramāyāṃtamālokya tadbhaktārcitaliṃgataḥ | daityastenaiva rūpeṇa vavṛdhe bhūdharopamaḥ
Seeing Rudra’s wondrous power manifested from that Liṅga worshipped by His devotees, the Daitya assumed that very form and grew vast, like a mountain.
Sūta Gosvāmin (narrating to the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya)
Tattva Level: pasha
Shiva Form: Rudra
Sthala Purana: A battle-episode where Rudra’s māyā manifests from a devotee-worshipped liṅga; the asuric being imitates the divine manifestation and enlarges himself, showing how proximity to liṅga-power without devotion yields distorted appropriation rather than liberation.
Significance: Affirms liṅga as a locus of Śiva’s śakti; teaches that true fruit comes through bhakti and right orientation, not mere contact with power.
FAQs
The verse contrasts two outcomes around the same sacred center: the Liṅga worshipped with bhakti becomes a seat of Rudra’s grace, while the Daitya responds with egoic imitation and expansion. In Shaiva Siddhānta terms, divine śakti (Rudra-māyā) reveals itself, and the bound soul’s (paśu’s) impurity can either soften through devotion or harden into pride when it seeks to rival the Lord.
Rudra’s power is said to arise ‘from the Liṅga worshipped by devotees,’ highlighting the Liṅga as Saguna-Siva’s accessible focus for arcana. Devotional worship makes the presence of Shiva’s śakti tangible in the narrative, showing the Liṅga not as mere symbol but as a living locus of the Lord’s anugraha (grace).
The implied practice is steady Liṅga-arcana with bhakti—offering water, bilva leaves, and mantra-japa (especially the Pañcākṣarī, “Om Namaḥ Śivāya”)—so that one aligns with Rudra’s grace rather than imitating power for self-aggrandizement.