Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 24
ध्यानप्रकारनिर्णयः / Determination of the Modes of Meditation
on Śrīkaṇṭha-Śiva
पापोपहतबुद्धीनां तद्वार्तापि सुदुर्लभा । यथावह्निर्महादीप्तः शुष्कमार्द्रं च निर्दहेत्
pāpopahatabuddhīnāṃ tadvārtāpi sudurlabhā | yathāvahnirmahādīptaḥ śuṣkamārdraṃ ca nirdahet
For those whose intellect has been wounded and obscured by sin, even the very tidings of Him (Śiva) are exceedingly hard to obtain. But when the great, blazing fire of Śiva’s knowledge and grace is kindled, it burns up both the dry and the moist—both the obvious and the deeply rooted impurities.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Sadāśiva
Significance: Frames true access to Śiva (even hearing His teaching) as grace-dependent; implies inner purification is the real prerequisite for fruitful darśana and tīrtha-yātrā.
FAQs
It teaches that pāpa clouds the buddhi so deeply that even hearing about Śiva becomes rare; yet Śiva-jñāna and Śiva’s anugraha, once awakened, can burn away both surface faults and entrenched karmic residues, leading toward liberation.
Linga-worship and Saguna devotion make Śiva accessible to minds burdened by impurity; through Śiva-kathā, darśana, and pūjā, grace arises like fire—purifying the devotee and loosening the pāśa that binds the paśu to saṃsāra.
Regular Śiva-kathā-śravaṇa (hearing Śiva’s teachings) and japa of the Pañcākṣarī “Om Namaḥ Śivāya” are implied as purifying disciplines; combined with simple Śiva-pūjā (and, where traditional, bhasma/rudrākṣa observances), they ignite the inner ‘fire’ that consumes impurity.