Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 13
श्रद्धामाहात्म्यं तथा देवीप्रश्नः
The Greatness of Śraddhā and Devī’s Question to Śiva
तदावसरमालोक्य सर्वलोकमहेश्वरी । भर्तारं परिपप्रच्छ सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् । देव्युवाच । केन वश्यो महादेवो मर्त्यानां मंदचेतसाम् । आत्मतत्त्वाद्यशक्तानामात्मनामकृतात्मनाम्
tadāvasaramālokya sarvalokamaheśvarī | bhartāraṃ paripapraccha sarvalokamaheśvaram | devyuvāca | kena vaśyo mahādevo martyānāṃ maṃdacetasām | ātmatattvādyaśaktānāmātmanāmakṛtātmanām
Seeing the moment to be fitting, the Goddess—the Sovereign Lady of all the worlds—questioned her Lord, the Great Lord of all the worlds. The Goddess said: “By what means does Mahādeva become gracious and responsive to mortals of dull understanding—those unable to grasp the truth of the Self (Ātman) and the higher tattvas, whose inner being remains unrefined?”
Parvati
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Mahādeva
Significance: Frames the central Siddhāntic problem: how the bound souls (paśu), dull and unrefined, can access Śiva’s responsiveness—implicitly pointing to accessible upāyas (bhakti, pūjā, śaraṇāgati) culminating in anugraha.
Shakti Form: Pārvatī
Role: teaching
FAQs
It frames a core Shaiva concern: how bound souls (paśu), limited in understanding and inner refinement, can still receive Śiva’s grace. The verse introduces the theme that the Lord becomes accessible through compassionate means suited to ordinary people.
The question implies that mortals need a practicable approach to reach the transcendent Lord. In Shaiva tradition, Saguna worship—especially Śiva as the Liṅga—serves as an accessible support through which devotion and reverence mature into insight and liberation.
While this verse itself is a question, it points toward simple, grace-oriented practices typically taught next in such dialogues—devotional worship, mantra-japa (notably the Pañcākṣarī), and purifying disciplines like bhasma/tripuṇḍra and rudrākṣa as aids for the unrefined mind.