Shloka 27
Bhu-maṇḍala-varṇanam
Description of the Earth-Maṇḍala, the Seven Continents, and Meru
मेरोरुपरि मध्ये हि शातकौंभं विधेः पुरम् । चतुर्द्दशसहस्राणि योजनानि च संख्यया
merorupari madhye hi śātakauṃbhaṃ vidheḥ puram | caturddaśasahasrāṇi yojanāni ca saṃkhyayā
In the middle region atop Mount Meru stands Śātakauṃbha, the city of the Creator, Brahmā; its extent is declared to be fourteen thousand yojanas.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pasha
Sthala Purana: Depicts Brahmā’s city (Śātakauṃbha) atop Meru as part of the cosmic architecture; not tied to a Jyotirliṅga shrine-origin.
Significance: Encourages ‘brahmāṇḍa-dhyāna’: contemplating higher lokas as stations within māyā’s ordered bondage (pāśa) that the paśu transcends by Śiva’s grace.
FAQs
It situates the cosmic order—Meru as the axis and Brahmā’s city as a higher realm—reminding the seeker that all worlds are structured within Shiva’s supreme governance (Pati), and that liberation transcends even exalted cosmic abodes.
By describing Brahmā’s celestial city as a measured realm, the text implies that even the Creator’s domain is finite; hence devotees turn to Saguna Shiva in the Linga as the accessible form of the Infinite who grants grace beyond limited lokas.
Contemplate the finitude of all created realms while repeating the Panchākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”), using Tripuṇḍra and Rudrākṣa as aids to steady devotion toward Shiva, who alone bestows moksha beyond the cosmic hierarchy.