Shloka 76

Adhyaya 8: Yogasthanas, Ashtanga Yoga, Pranayama-Siddhi, and Shiva-Dhyana leading to Samadhi

Devanagari script

पातकं धारणाभिस्तु प्रत्याहारेण निर्दहेत् विषयान्विषवद्ध्यात्वा ध्यानेनानीश्वरान् गुणान्

Transliteration

pātakaṃ dhāraṇābhistu pratyāhāreṇa nirdahet viṣayānviṣavaddhyātvā dhyānenānīśvarān guṇān

Translation

Por las prácticas de dhāraṇā, la concentración, se quema el pecado; por pratyāhāra, el retraimiento de los sentidos, se lo consume por completo. Considerando los objetos de los sentidos como veneno, y mediante dhyāna, la meditación, trascendiendo las cualidades no soberanas de prakṛti, el paśu es conducido fuera del pāśa hacia el Señor, el Pati: Śiva.

Word by Word

• पातकम् (pātakam): sin, demerit

• धारणाभिः (dhāraṇābhiḥ): by concentrations, acts of fixing the mind

• तु (tu): indeed

• प्रत्याहारेण (pratyāhāreṇa): by withdrawal of the senses

• निर्दहेत् (nirdahet): should burn up, should incinerate

• विषयान् (viṣayān): sense-objects

• विषवत् (viṣavat): like poison

• ध्यात्वा (dhyātvā): having contemplated

• ध्यानेन (dhyānena): by meditation

• अनीश्वरान् (anīśvarān): non-lordly, not sovereign (dependent)

• गुणान् (guṇān): qualities (sattva, rajas, tamas), constituents of prakṛti

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating Shaiva yogic discipline within the Linga Purana’s teaching stream)

Characters & Entities

• Shiva

FAQs

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

It shows that true Linga-upāsanā is completed by inner discipline: sense-withdrawal and meditation that purify pāśa (bondage) and make the mind fit to abide in Śiva as Pati.

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

Śiva is implied as the Īśvara (sovereign) beyond the dependent guṇas of prakṛti; meditation that transcends “anīśvara guṇas” turns the paśu away from nature-bound states toward Śiva-tattva.

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

Aṣṭāṅga-oriented Shaiva practice: dhāraṇā and pratyāhāra for purification, and dhyāna that treats sense-objects as poison and rises beyond the guṇas—key to Pāśupata-style liberation.