Shloka 141
बन्धमोक्षवर्णनम्
Bondage and Liberation: The Prakṛti–Karma Wheel and Śiva as the Transcendent Cause
जननं मरणं द्वंद्वं मायाचक्रमितीरितम् । शिवस्य मायाचक्रं हि बलिपीठं तदुच्यते
jananaṃ maraṇaṃ dvaṃdvaṃ māyācakramitīritam | śivasya māyācakraṃ hi balipīṭhaṃ taducyate
Birth and death, together with the pairs of opposites, are declared to be the wheel of Māyā. Indeed, this very wheel of Māyā belonging to Śiva is called the bali-pīṭha—the altar where the ego and bondage are symbolically offered up in surrender.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pasha
Shiva Form: Īśāna
Significance: Interprets saṃsāra (birth–death and dvandvas) as Śiva’s māyā-cakra; the bali-pīṭha becomes a symbolic locus of surrender where the devotee offers egoic bondage—turning temple space into a map of liberation.
Shakti Form: Durgā
Role: liberating
Cosmic Event: saṃsāra-cakra (cycle of birth and death)
FAQs
It identifies birth–death and worldly dualities as Māyā’s revolving cycle, and teaches that liberation comes by offering up (surrendering) one’s ego and bondage at Śiva’s “bali-pīṭha,” i.e., transforming life’s opposites into a means of inner renunciation and grace.
In Linga-worship, the devotee approaches Saguna Śiva as the compassionate Lord who governs Māyā; the verse reframes worship as an inner sacrifice—placing the dvandvas and the sense of doership before Śiva so the devotee may move toward the Nirguna truth beyond the cycle.
Practice japa of the Pañcākṣarī ("Om Namaḥ Śivāya") with the bhāva of surrender, mentally offering pleasure–pain and success–failure into Śiva; during Linga-pūjā, make the sankalpa that the true “bali” is the ego and attachment to janana-maraṇa.