Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 18
गाणपत्यदानकथा
Bāṇāsura Receives Gaṇapatya; Genealogical Prelude
तस्य राज्येऽमरान्हित्वा नाभवन्दुःखिताः प्रजाः । सापत्न्यादुःखितास्ते हि परधर्मप्रवर्तिनः
tasya rājye'marānhitvā nābhavanduḥkhitāḥ prajāḥ | sāpatnyāduḥkhitāste hi paradharmapravartinaḥ
En su reino, una vez apartada la injerencia de los dioses, los súbditos no cayeron en aflicción. Pues quienes sufrían por rivalidades y otras penas eran, en verdad, gentes entregadas a deberes ajenos, extraviadas de su propio sendero de dharma.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
FAQs
The verse links inner suffering to para-dharma—living by an alien code rather than one’s own rightful path—implying that peace in society and mind arises from alignment with dharma under the higher order upheld by Shiva.
By warning against para-dharma, it indirectly supports steadiness in one’s ordained Shaiva observances—devotion to Saguna Shiva through Linga-worship as one’s svadharma—rather than chasing conflicting paths that breed agitation.
A practical takeaway is disciplined japa of the Pañcākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) with a dharmic daily rule—optionally with bhasma (tripuṇḍra) and rudrākṣa—so the mind does not fall into rivalry, jealousy, and restless comparison.