Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 29
सर्गविभागवर्णनम्
Classification of Creation: the Nine Sargas and the Streams of Beings
प्रजासन्तानहेतोश्च प्रयतध्वमतन्द्रिताः । एवमुक्ताश्च रुरुदुर्दुद्रुवुश्च समन्ततः । रोदनाद्द्रावणाच्चैव ते रुद्रा नामतः स्मृताः । ये रुद्रास्ते खलु प्राणा ये प्राणास्ते महात्मकाः
prajāsantānahetośca prayatadhvamatandritāḥ | evamuktāśca rurudurdudruvuśca samantataḥ | rodanāddrāvaṇāccaiva te rudrā nāmataḥ smṛtāḥ | ye rudrāste khalu prāṇā ye prāṇāste mahātmakāḥ
“For the sake of bringing forth progeny, strive diligently and without negligence.” Thus addressed, they wept and also ran about in all directions. Because of their weeping (rodana) and their causing things to flee (drāvaṇa), they are remembered by the name “Rudras”. Indeed, those Rudras are the vital breaths (prāṇas); and those vital breaths are the great-souled powers that sustain embodied life.
Suta Goswami (narrating the Vāyavīya teaching to the sages of Naimisharanya)
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Rudra
Role: nurturing
FAQs
The verse links the Rudras with prāṇa (life-breath), teaching that Shiva’s Rudra-power is not merely cosmic but also the inner force sustaining all beings; recognizing this leads the seeker toward Shaiva insight that Pati (Shiva) pervades and governs the pashu through the very breath of life.
By identifying Rudra with prāṇa, the text encourages Saguna devotion to Shiva as the living indweller: Linga worship is not only external ritual but also internalization—offering one’s breath, attention, and vitality to the Lord who stands as the support of embodied existence.
A practical takeaway is prāṇāyāma and mantra-japa: steady the prāṇa and repeat the Panchakshara (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) with awareness that the breath itself is Rudra’s presence; this aligns inner yoga with Shaiva devotion.