Shloka 19

उपमन्युतपः-निवारणप्रसङ्गः / Śiva restrains Upamanyu’s tapas (Śiva disguised as Indra)

Devanagari script

रुद्रेण निर्गुणेनापि किं ते कार्यं भविष्यति । देवपङ्क्तिबहिर्भूतो यः पिशाचत्वमागतः

Transliteration

rudreṇa nirguṇenāpi kiṃ te kāryaṃ bhaviṣyati | devapaṅktibahirbhūto yaḥ piśācatvamāgataḥ

Translation

What purpose will even the worship of Nirguṇa Rudra serve for you, when you have fallen outside the assembly of the gods and have descended into the state of a piśāca, a degraded and impure being?

Word by Word

• rudreṇa: by/with Rudra
• rudreṇa: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rudra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• nirguṇena: attribute-less
• nirguṇena: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nirguṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular (एकवचन); agrees with ‘rudreṇa’

• api: even/also
• api: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (निपात) expressing ‘even/also’

• kim: what
• kim: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative/Accusative (1st/2nd), Singular (एकवचन); interrogative

• te: for you/your
• te: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular (एकवचन)

• kāryam: purpose/need
• kāryam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kārya (प्रातिपदिक; from √kṛ, यत्)
• Form: Napumsaka (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

• bhaviṣyati: will be
• bhaviṣyati: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhū (धातु)
• Form: Future (लृट्), 3rd Person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन)

• deva-paṅkti-bahir-bhūtaḥ: excluded from the host of gods
• deva-paṅkti-bahir-bhūtaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: deva + paṅkti + bahis + bhūta (प्रातिपदिक; कृदन्त from √bhū, क्त)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); multi-member tatpuruṣa: ‘devānāṃ paṅkteḥ bahiḥ bhūtaḥ’ (outside the line of gods)

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); relative pronoun

• piśācatvam: state of being a piśāca (ghoul)
• piśācatvam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: piśācatva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• āgataḥ: has attained/come to
• āgataḥ: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ā-√gam (धातु) (क्त)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); past active participle (क्त) used predicatively with ‘yaḥ’

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating the Vāyavīya discourse to the sages of Naimisharanya)

Shaiva Theology

Tattva Level: pasha

Shiva Form: Rudra

Characters & Entities

• Rudra

FAQs

What is the spiritual significance of this verse in the Shiva Purana?

The verse warns that without inner purity and right conduct, a person becomes unfit to grasp the subtle truth of Nirguṇa Rudra; spiritual knowledge must be supported by purification and dharmic alignment, otherwise one remains bound in a tamasic, degraded condition.

How does this verse relate to the worship of the Linga or Saguna Shiva?

It implies an order of practice: those dominated by impurity should first take refuge in Saguna Shiva—Linga worship, mantra-japa, and disciplined devotion—so the mind becomes fit for the higher contemplation of Nirguṇa Rudra.

What ritualistic or meditative practice is suggested here?

A practical takeaway is purification through Shaiva sadhana: steady japa of the Panchakshara (Om Namaḥ Śivāya), reverent Linga worship, and purificatory observances such as bhasma (Tripuṇḍra) and Rudrākṣa as aids to stabilize sattva and devotion.