Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 32
लिङ्गप्रतिष्ठा-माहात्म्यम् / The Greatness of Liṅga Installation
मुष्टिभिर्न्निघ्नतोस्तीव्रं रजसा बद्धवैरयोः । तयोर्दर्पापहाराय प्रबोधाय च देवयोः
muṣṭibhirnnighnatostīvraṃ rajasā baddhavairayoḥ | tayordarpāpahārāya prabodhāya ca devayoḥ
As those two gods—bound in fierce enmity—struck one another with their fists and raised thick clouds of dust, this occurred in order to remove their pride and to awaken them to true understanding.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Role: teaching
FAQs
The verse frames conflict as a divinely permitted means to dissolve darpa (ego) and produce prabodha (awakening), aligning with Shaiva thought that bondage (pāśa) is fundamentally rooted in ignorance and pride.
It points to Saguna Shiva’s governance of events: even the devas are corrected through circumstances that humble them, guiding them back toward dharma and devotion—an implicit call to seek refuge in Shiva’s stabilizing presence symbolized by the Linga.
A practical takeaway is daily ego-purification through japa of the Panchakshara (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) and self-inquiry before worship, offering one’s pride into Shiva as an inner oblation.