Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 29
पञ्चाक्षर-षडक्षरमन्त्र-माहात्म्यम् | The Greatness of the Pañcākṣara/Ṣaḍakṣara Mantra
यच्छ्रुत्वा जायते श्रेयो रागादीनां च संशयः । विरूपमपि तद्वाक्यं विज्ञेयमिति शोभनम्
yacchrutvā jāyate śreyo rāgādīnāṃ ca saṃśayaḥ | virūpamapi tadvākyaṃ vijñeyamiti śobhanam
That teaching which, when heard, brings welfare and awakens doubt toward passions such as attachment—thereby loosening them—should be known as true and worthy of learning, even if its wording seems imperfect. This is the right and auspicious criterion.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Dakṣiṇāmūrti
Role: teaching
FAQs
It gives a Shaiva criterion for valid teaching: whatever reduces attachment and turns the mind toward śreyas (the highest good leading to Shiva-realization) should be honored as true, even if the wording is not polished.
Linga and Saguna Shiva worship are meant to purify the heart and weaken passions; this verse states that any instruction that produces such inner transformation is to be accepted as genuinely beneficial within Shaiva practice.
Adopt practices that directly lessen rāga and related bonds—steady japa of the Panchakshara (Om Namaḥ Śivāya), Linga-pūjā with bhakti, and contemplative self-examination to see whether desire and aversion are actually diminishing.