Shloka 32
बन्धमोक्षवर्णनम्
Bondage and Liberation: The Prakṛti–Karma Wheel and Śiva as the Transcendent Cause
देवर्षितपसा तुष्टः सान्निध्यार्थं तु तत्र वै । पृथिव्यन्तर्गतः शर्वो बीजं वै नादरूपतः
devarṣitapasā tuṣṭaḥ sānnidhyārthaṃ tu tatra vai | pṛthivyantargataḥ śarvo bījaṃ vai nādarūpataḥ
Pleased by the austerities of the divine sage, Śarva (Lord Śiva), in order to grant His immediate presence there, entered within the earth—indeed, as the seed in the form of Nāda, the primordial sacred sound.
Sūta Gosvāmin
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Sadāśiva
Jyotirlinga: Viśvanātha
Sthala Purana: Pleased by a devarṣi’s tapas, Śiva grants sānnidhya by entering the earth as a subtle seed (nāda), later manifesting as a self-revealed liṅga; this frames Kāśī as the locus of immediate presence (sānnidhya) and liberation-bestowing grace.
Significance: Darśana and worship confer jñāna-vṛddhi and mokṣa-pravṛtti through Śiva’s anugraha; Kāśī is traditionally held as the kṣetra where liberation is especially accessible.
FAQs
It teaches that Śiva responds to tapas (austerity) and devotion by granting sānnidhya—His living, accessible presence—manifesting subtly as nāda, the causal spiritual vibration behind sacred experience and liberation.
Śiva ‘entering the earth’ points to His immanent presence in a sacred locus, which later becomes approachable through Saguna worship—especially Linga-upāsanā—where the formless (nāda/seed) is honored through a concrete sanctified form.
Meditate on nāda through japa of the Pañcākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) and attentive inner listening (nāda-anusandhāna), while performing simple Linga worship to seek Śiva’s sānnidhya.