Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 25
पुष्पार्पण-विनिर्णयः
Determination of Flower-Offerings to Śiva
मुक्तिकामो भवेद्यो वै दर्भैश्च पूजनं चरेत् । लक्षसंख्या तु सर्वत्र ज्ञातव्या ऋषिसत्तम
muktikāmo bhavedyo vai darbhaiśca pūjanaṃ caret | lakṣasaṃkhyā tu sarvatra jñātavyā ṛṣisattama
Ô le meilleur des sages, celui qui désire la délivrance (mokṣa) doit accomplir le culte avec l’herbe darbha ; et, dans tout rite de ce genre, il faut savoir que le nombre d’un lakh en est la juste mesure.
Sūta Gosvāmin (narrating to the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya)
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Dakṣiṇāmūrti
Significance: Connects liberation-intent (mukti-kāma) with a specific ritual material (darbha), reflecting a dharma-śāstra/kalpa sensibility within Purāṇic Śaiva practice.
Role: liberating
Offering: pushpa
FAQs
It links mokṣa-oriented life to disciplined Śiva-upāsanā: worship done with purity (symbolized by darbha) and with a complete, vowed measure (lakṣa), emphasizing steadiness and inner resolve as the means to grace.
In Rudra Saṃhitā’s ritual tone, such prescriptions support saguna worship—offering and japa before Śiva (often as the Liṅga)—where external purity and fixed counts train the mind toward single-pointed devotion that culminates in liberation.
Perform Śiva-pūjā employing darbha as a sanctifying aid, and undertake a lakṣa (100,000) count as the intended completion—typically applied to mantra-japa or repeated offerings within a vowed observance.