गौतमस्य शिवदर्शनं पापक्षयवचनं च | Gautama’s Vision of Śiva and the Teaching on Sin and Purification
सूत उवाच । इत्युक्त्वा शंकरस्तस्मै तेषां दुश्चरितं तदा । बहूवाच प्रभुर्विप्राः सत्कदोऽसत्सु दंडदः
sūta uvāca | ityuktvā śaṃkarastasmai teṣāṃ duścaritaṃ tadā | bahūvāca prabhurviprāḥ satkado'satsu daṃḍadaḥ
Sūta dit : Après lui avoir ainsi parlé, Śaṅkara décrivit alors en détail leur conduite mauvaise. Ô brāhmaṇas, le Seigneur—qui récompense les justes et châtie les méchants—parla longuement.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Mahādeva
It presents Śiva as Pati (the sovereign Lord) who upholds dharma: he grants grace to the virtuous and corrective punishment to the wicked, guiding beings toward purification and liberation.
It frames Saguna Śiva—the worshipful Lord approached through the Liṅga—as an ethical and compassionate ruler: devotion is not merely ritual, but alignment with dharma under Śiva’s protecting and correcting governance.
A practical takeaway is daily self-examination with japa of the Pañcākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) and sincere repentance, seeking Śiva’s anugraha (grace) to abandon duścarita (harmful conduct).