Shloka 33
बन्धमोक्षवर्णनम्
Bondage and Liberation: The Prakṛti–Karma Wheel and Śiva as the Transcendent Cause
स्थावरांकुरवद्भूमिमुद्भिद्य व्यक्त एव सः । स्वयंभूतं जातमिति स्वयंभूरिति तं विदुः
sthāvarāṃkuravadbhūmimudbhidya vyakta eva saḥ | svayaṃbhūtaṃ jātamiti svayaṃbhūriti taṃ viduḥ
Like a sprout breaking through the earth, He became manifest of Himself. Since He is said to have arisen as self-born, the wise know Him by the name “Svayambhū” (the Self-existent Lord).
Sūta Gosvāmin (narrating to the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya)
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Liṅgodbhava
Jyotirlinga: Viśvanātha
Sthala Purana: The self-manifestation (svayaṃbhū) motif—like a sprout piercing earth—supports the kṣetra idea of a liṅga not installed by humans but revealed by Śiva’s will, grounding the sanctity of the site and its liṅga.
Significance: Svayaṃbhū-liṅga darśana is held to be especially potent, as the sign is self-revealed; it intensifies faith and accelerates jñāna and vairāgya.
FAQs
It affirms Shiva as Svayambhū—self-existent and self-manifest—teaching that the Supreme (Pati) is not produced by any other cause, yet compassionately becomes perceptible for devotees.
By describing Shiva’s ‘manifestation’ like a sprout emerging from earth, it supports the Purāṇic idea of the self-manifest Linga (svayambhū-liṅga): the formless Reality (Nirguṇa) allowing a worshipful, accessible form (Saguṇa) for bhakti.
Meditate on Shiva as self-luminous and self-arisen while offering simple Linga-upacāras (water, bilva) with japa of the Pañcākṣarī—“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”—to internalize that the Lord is revealed by grace, not manufactured by effort alone.