Shloka 16
Svagati-varṇana
Description of the Supreme State / One’s True Attainment
यश्च कल्पान्तसमये विश्वं संहरति ध्रुवम् । नावध्यो यस्य च भवेत्त्रैलौक्ये सचराचरे
yaśca kalpāntasamaye viśvaṃ saṃharati dhruvam | nāvadhyo yasya ca bhavettrailaukye sacarācare
He who, at the dissolution at the end of an aeon, unfailingly withdraws the entire universe—throughout the three worlds, with all that moves and does not move, none can overpower or slay Him.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Mahākāla
Jyotirlinga: Mahākāleśvara
Sthala Purana: Mahākāla as the Lord of Time who subdues death and presides over dissolution; the verse’s kalpānta-saṃhāra theme resonates with Ujjayinī’s Mahākāla identity (time-transcending Śiva).
Significance: Contemplation of Mahākāla grants fearlessness before death/time and supports liberation-oriented bhakti; pilgrimage is famed for confronting kāla (time) through Śiva-darśana.
Type: stotra
Shakti Form: Kālī
Role: destructive
Cosmic Event: kalpānta (end-of-aeon dissolution)
FAQs
The verse establishes Śiva as Pati—the supreme Lord who dissolves the cosmos at kalpa’s end and is therefore beyond all limitation, affirming that liberation rests in taking refuge in the deathless, unsurpassable Shiva-tattva.
The Liṅga is revered as the sign of the formless, indestructible Pati; worship of Saguna Śiva through the Liṅga trains the devotee to contemplate His cosmic function of saṁhāra (reabsorption) and His invincibility across all realms.
Meditate on Mahādeva as the kalpānta-saṁhārī while repeating the Pañcākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya); mentally offer surrender (śaraṇāgati) to the One whom none can overpower in the three worlds.