Shloka 16
Śiva-Naivedya-Grāhyatā-Nirṇayaḥ
On the Proper Acceptance and Merit of Śiva’s Consecrated Food-Offering
चंडाधिकारो यत्रास्ति तद्भोक्तव्यं न मानवैः । चंडाधिकारो नो यत्र भोक्तव्यं तच्च भक्तितः
caṃḍādhikāro yatrāsti tadbhoktavyaṃ na mānavaiḥ | caṃḍādhikāro no yatra bhoktavyaṃ tacca bhaktitaḥ
Where a violent and impure claim over offerings (caṇḍādhikāra) prevails, people should not partake of it. But where no such harsh entitlement exists, that pure offering should be accepted reverently, as an act of devotion (bhakti).
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pasha
Shiva Form: Mahādeva
Sthala Purana: A normative temple-ethics rule: offerings become spiritually unsafe when controlled by coercive/impure entitlement (caṇḍādhikāra). Where such distortion is absent, prasāda may be accepted as bhakti.
Significance: Protects pilgrims from adharmic temple economies; stresses that prasāda’s benefit depends on dharmic stewardship and non-violent, non-coercive administration.
Role: teaching
Offering: naivedya
FAQs
It teaches that devotion (bhakti) must be joined with dharma and purity: offerings connected to violence, coercion, or impure entitlement should be avoided, while pure prasad may be accepted as a devotional act.
In Linga worship, naivedya becomes prasad through reverent offering to Saguna Shiva; the verse emphasizes that the sanctity of prasad depends not only on being “offered,” but also on the purity of the circumstances and intention surrounding it.
Accept prasad only from dharmic, non-violent, clean sources and receive it with bhakti-bhāva; in daily Shiva-puja (and on Mahashivratri), offer naivedya with mantra and purity, then partake as consecrated prasad rather than ordinary food.