Shloka 3
Pārthiva-Śiva-liṅga Saṃkhyā-vidhāna
Enumeration and Procedure of Earthen Liṅga Worship
सूत उवाच । शृणुध्वमृषयः सर्वे पार्थिवार्चाविधानकम् । यस्यानुष्ठानमात्रेण कृतकृत्यो भवेन्नरः
sūta uvāca | śṛṇudhvamṛṣayaḥ sarve pārthivārcāvidhānakam | yasyānuṣṭhānamātreṇa kṛtakṛtyo bhavennaraḥ
Sūta said: “Listen, all you sages, to the prescribed method of pārthiva worship with earth (clay). By the mere performance of this observance, a person becomes one who has fulfilled the purpose of life.”
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Dakṣiṇāmūrti
Significance: Frames the pārthiva-liṅga rite as a powerful upāya accessible outside major kṣetras; ‘mere observance’ is praised as life-fulfilling.
Role: teaching
Offering: pushpa
FAQs
It proclaims that sincere observance of Pārthiva-arcā (worship of Shiva through an earthen sacred form) is a complete, life-fulfilling sādhana—capable of making one “kṛtakṛtya,” as devotion aligned with right procedure turns the mind toward Shiva (Pati) and loosens bondage (pāśa).
The verse introduces a concrete, Saguna mode of approach—arcā worship—where Shiva is reverently invoked and served through a form (here, an earthen liṅga/emblem). In Shaiva Siddhanta terms, disciplined outer worship supports inner purification and steady remembrance of Shiva.
It points to performing the prescribed Pārthiva-arcā-vidhi—devotional worship of an earthen Shiva form—typically accompanied by mantra-japa (often the Panchakshara, “Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) and offerings, undertaken with faith and regularity.