Shloka 3

Adhyaya 75: Nishkala–Sakala Shiva, Twofold Linga, and the Supremacy of Dhyana-Yajna

Devanagari script

शब्दादिविषयं ज्ञानं ज्ञानमित्यभिधीयते तज्ज्ञानं भ्रान्तिरहितम् इत्यन्ये नेति चापरे

Transliteration

śabdādiviṣayaṃ jñānaṃ jñānamityabhidhīyate tajjñānaṃ bhrāntirahitam ityanye neti cāpare

Translation

La cognición cuyo campo son el sonido y los demás objetos de los sentidos se llama “conocimiento”. Algunos sostienen que conocimiento es aquello libre de ilusión; otros, en cambio, lo niegan como definición completa.

Word by Word

• śabda-ādi: sound and the rest (sense-objects)

• viṣayam: having as its object/field

• jñānam: cognition, knowledge

• jñānam iti: as “knowledge”

• abhidhīyate: is stated/defined

• tat jñānam: that knowledge

• bhrānti-rahitam: free from error/delusion

• iti: thus

• anye: others (some teachers)

• na iti: ‘no’/not so

• ca: and

• apare: other teachers/others

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating doctrinal definitions within the Purva-Bhaga discourse)

FAQs

What is the importance of this verse in the context of Linga worship?

It frames “knowledge” as a topic of discernment: in Linga-worship and Shaiva practice, the devotee must refine ordinary sense-based cognition into error-free insight so devotion (bhakti) and ritual (puja) are guided by right understanding rather than bhrānti.

How does this verse describe the nature of Shiva (Shiva-tattva)?

By contrasting bhrānti and true jñāna, it implies Shiva (Pati) as the ground of non-deluded awareness; liberation of the pashu requires knowledge aligned with Shiva-tattva, not merely sense-object cognition.

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

Viveka (discriminative discernment) central to Pashupata-oriented sadhana: examining cognition, rejecting delusion, and stabilizing right knowledge that loosens pasha (bondage).