Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 29
श्रद्धामाहात्म्यं तथा देवीप्रश्नः
The Greatness of Śraddhā and Devī’s Question to Śiva
सा हानिस्तन्महच्छिद्रं स मोहस्सांधमूकता । यदन्यत्र श्रमं कुर्यान्मोक्षमार्गबहिष्कृतः । ज्ञानं क्रिया च चर्या च योगश्चेति सुरेश्वरि । चतुष्पादः समाख्यातो मम धर्मस्सनातनः
sā hānistanmahacchidraṃ sa mohassāṃdhamūkatā | yadanyatra śramaṃ kuryānmokṣamārgabahiṣkṛtaḥ | jñānaṃ kriyā ca caryā ca yogaśceti sureśvari | catuṣpādaḥ samākhyāto mama dharmassanātanaḥ
That is loss; that is a great breach; that is delusion and a kind of dull, silent stupor—when one, excluded from the path of liberation, toils in pursuits elsewhere. O Goddess of the Devas, My eternal Dharma is declared to be four-footed: spiritual knowledge, sacred action, disciplined conduct, and yoga.
Lord Shiva
Tattva Level: pasha
Shiva Form: Īśāna
Significance: Defines misdirected effort as spiritual loss and delusion; presents Siddhānta’s fourfold path (jñāna–kriyā–caryā–yoga) as the complete mokṣa-mārga.
Shakti Form: Pārvatī
Role: teaching
FAQs
It warns that effort spent outside the moksha-marga becomes spiritual loss and delusion, and it defines Shiva’s eternal Dharma as a balanced fourfold path—jñāna, kriyā, caryā, and yoga—integrating insight, worship, ethical discipline, and inner realization.
The ‘kriyā’ and ‘caryā’ limbs point to Saguna Shiva devotion expressed through temple/Linga worship, mantra, and observances, which—when grounded in jñāna and completed by yoga—become a direct support for liberation rather than mere worldly religiosity.
It implies steady kriyā (daily Shiva-pūjā, mantra-japa such as the Panchakshara) and caryā (vows, purity, right living), culminating in yoga (meditative absorption on Shiva) guided by jñāna (clear understanding of Pati–paśu–pāśa and the goal of moksha).