Shloka 27
महापातकवर्णनम् (Mahāpātaka-varṇanam) — “Description of Great Sins and Their Consequences”
मिथ्यागुणैर्य आत्मानं नयत्युत्कर्षतां बलात् । गुणानपि निरुद्वास्य स च वै ब्रह्महा भवेत्
mithyāguṇairya ātmānaṃ nayatyutkarṣatāṃ balāt | guṇānapi nirudvāsya sa ca vai brahmahā bhavet
Whoever, by the force of false virtues, thrusts himself into a place of superiority and even drives away the truly virtuous—he indeed becomes a brahmahā, guilty of grievous sin.
Lord Shiva (as a philosophical instructor in the Umāsaṃhitā discourse)
Tattva Level: pasha
Shiva Form: Īśāna
Significance: Condemns counterfeit virtue and coercive self-exaltation that displaces the truly virtuous; frames social adharma as bondage-producing (pāśa) that blocks Śiva’s grace.
FAQs
It condemns hypocrisy and ego-driven “virtue,” teaching that prideful self-exaltation and harming genuine goodness are forms of spiritual violence that deepen pāśa (bondage) and obstruct Shiva-realization.
Linga-worship is meant to purify intention and dissolve ahamkāra; this verse warns that external religiosity without inner humility becomes mithyā-guṇa, which turns devotion into an obstacle rather than a path to Shiva’s grace.
Practice honest self-examination during japa of the Panchākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya), and pair it with humility and non-harm toward the virtuous; let worship (bhasma, rudrākṣa, pūjā) be supported by truthful conduct rather than display.