Shloka 5
तपः कर्तुं समारेभे यत्र ते सहचारिणः । स वै तत्र निराहारो वायुभक्षो महातपाः
tapaḥ kartuṃ samārebhe yatra te sahacāriṇaḥ | sa vai tatra nirāhāro vāyubhakṣo mahātapāḥ
There, where his companions were, he began to undertake austerities. In that very place the great ascetic lived without food, sustaining himself on air alone.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Sthala Purana: Not a Jyotirliṅga passage; it introduces a local sacred geography (Kāṃpilya) and a septet of purified mahātmans, a common Purāṇic device for establishing sanctity and lineage.
Significance: Association with birth/lineage of purified sages makes the place a kṣetra for merit (puṇya) and sādhana; supports later kṣetra-māhātmya development.
FAQs
It highlights tapas as disciplined self-restraint: reducing dependence on sense-pleasures to steady the mind for Shiva-realization, aligning the soul (paśu) toward Pati (Shiva) by loosening bonds (pāśa).
Such austerity is presented as inner worship—purifying the devotee so that external Linga-puja becomes concentrated and effective, transforming ritual into one-pointed devotion to Saguna Shiva and leading toward the higher truth of Shiva beyond limitation.
A takeaway is disciplined fasting and breath-regulation (prāṇāyāma) as supportive sādhana; paired with japa of the Panchakshara (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) and regular bhasma application, it strengthens vairagya and focus.