Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 85
अनुग्रह-स्वातन्त्र्य-प्रमाणविचारः | Inquiry into Pramāṇa, Divine Autonomy, and Grace
स्वाज्ञौषधविधानेन दुःखान्मोचयते शिवः । न भिषक्कारणं रोगे शिवः संसारकारणम्
svājñauṣadhavidhānena duḥkhānmocayate śivaḥ | na bhiṣakkāraṇaṃ roge śivaḥ saṃsārakāraṇam
By the ordinance of His own medicine—His command and His grace—Śiva releases beings from suffering. He is not like a physician who becomes the cause of the disease; rather, Śiva is the very cause of saṃsāra itself, and therefore He alone can also bring it to cessation.
Suta Goswami (narrating the Vāyavīya teaching to the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya)
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Īśāna
Role: liberating
FAQs
It presents Śiva as the supreme Lord (Pati) whose governance and grace alone can remove duḥkha; because saṃsāra arises under His cosmic power, liberation also depends on His anugraha rather than mere worldly remedies.
Worship of the Liṅga (Saguna focus) is a concrete means to approach Śiva’s saving power—seeking His command-like ‘medicine’ through devotion, pūjā, and surrender, which ripens the soul for release from bondage.
Seek Śiva’s ‘auṣadha’ through japa of the Pañcākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) with bhakti and inner surrender; complement with Śaiva disciplines like bhasma (tripuṇḍra) and rudrākṣa as aids to steadiness and remembrance.