Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 38
ध्यानप्रकारनिर्णयः / Determination of the Modes of Meditation
on Śrīkaṇṭha-Śiva
श्रोतृभिस्ते प्रपद्यन्ते नरकेष्वामहीक्षयात् । सति श्रोतरि वक्तास्यादपवादस्य योगिनाम्
śrotṛbhiste prapadyante narakeṣvāmahīkṣayāt | sati śrotari vaktāsyādapavādasya yoginām
Through the decay of their merit, those listeners fall into the hells. And when a listener is present, the speaker becomes answerable for the sin of slandering the yogins.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pasha
Shiva Form: Kālabhairava
FAQs
It teaches that spiritual progress depends on purity of speech and association: defaming realized yogins is a grave aparādha that destroys merit, harming both the listener who accepts it and the speaker who spreads it.
Linga-worship in the Shiva Purana is grounded in śuddhi (inner purity). Slandering Shiva’s devotees and yogins contradicts bhakti and reverence toward Saguna Shiva’s living presence in His servants, thereby obstructing grace.
Practice verbal discipline (mauna/mitabhāṣā), avoid sat-saṅga with disparagers, and reinforce devotion through japa of the Panchakshara (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) as a corrective to speech-based karmic faults.