Shloka 20
शिवस्यार्द्धनारीनरावतारवर्णनम्
Description of Shiva’s Ardhanārī-nara Manifestation
शिवे नारीकुलं स्रष्टुं शक्तिं देहि नमोऽस्तु ते । चराचरं जगद्विद्धि हेतोर्मातः शिवं प्रिये
śive nārīkulaṃ sraṣṭuṃ śaktiṃ dehi namo'stu te | carācaraṃ jagadviddhi hetormātaḥ śivaṃ priye
O Śivā, grant me the Śakti to create the multitude of women; salutations to you. Know, dear Mother, that this entire moving and unmoving universe arises from Śiva as its cause, O beloved.
Brahma
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Sadyojāta
Mantra: namo'stu te
Type: stotra
Shakti Form: Pārvatī
Role: creative
Offering: pushpa
FAQs
It affirms that all creation depends on Śiva as the supreme cause (Pati) and on Śivā/Śakti as His manifest creative power, guiding the devotee to see the world as rooted in the Divine rather than in mere materiality.
By declaring Śiva as the causal source of the entire universe, it supports Saguna worship (such as the Śiva-liṅga) as a concrete focus for devotion to the transcendent Lord who nevertheless becomes the ground of all manifested forms through Śakti.
A practical takeaway is Śiva-Śakti bhakti with japa of the Pañcākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) while contemplating that all carācarā (moving and unmoving) existence rests in Śiva as its cause.