Shloka 21
वेश्योवाच । वयं हि स्वैरचारिण्यो वेश्यास्तु न पतिव्रताः । अस्मत्कुलोचितो धर्मो व्यभिचारो न संशयः
veśyovāca | vayaṃ hi svairacāriṇyo veśyāstu na pativratāḥ | asmatkulocito dharmo vyabhicāro na saṃśayaḥ
The courtesan said: “Truly, we are women who move as we please; as courtesans we are not vowed to one husband alone. For our lineage and calling, the conduct deemed ‘proper’ is union with many—of this there is no doubt.”
Veshya (courtesan)
Tattva Level: pashu
Sthala Purana: Not a Jyotirliṅga episode; it is a social-ethical self-definition that can be read as the soul’s self-justifying bondage (pāśa) through habituated identity.
Significance: Didactic: illustrates how ‘dharma’ can be misread as mere custom (ācāra) when driven by desire—an instance of tirodhāna (concealment) over the pashu’s discernment.
FAQs
It shows how worldly identity and profession can normalize bondage-bound conduct; from a Shaiva Siddhanta lens, such self-justification is a form of pasha (bondage) that keeps the soul turned outward until it seeks Shiva’s purifying grace and right discernment.
By contrasting worldly ‘custom’ with higher purity, the narrative implicitly points toward Saguna Shiva (Linga-worship) as a stabilizing refuge that reforms conduct and redirects desire into devotion, gradually loosening karmic bonds.
A practical takeaway is to adopt Shiva-oriented discipline—daily japa of the Panchakshara (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) with inner restraint—so that impulsive tendencies are transformed rather than defended as “my nature.”