Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 24
शङ्खचूडकृततपः—ब्रह्मवरकवचप्राप्तिः / Śaṅkhacūḍa’s Austerity—Brahmā’s Boon and the Bestowal of the Kavaca
अधुना दानवेन्द्रोऽहं राधिकायाश्च शापतः । जातिस्मरोऽहं जानामि सर्वं कृष्णप्रभावतः
adhunā dānavendro'haṃ rādhikāyāśca śāpataḥ | jātismaro'haṃ jānāmi sarvaṃ kṛṣṇaprabhāvataḥ
«À présent, par la malédiction de Rādhikā, je suis devenu le seigneur des Dānavas. Pourtant, par la puissance divine de Kṛṣṇa, je me souviens de mes naissances passées et je sais toute chose.»
A Danava king (speaking in first person within the Yuddha-khaṇḍa dialogue; narrated via Suta Goswami’s discourse)
Tattva Level: pashu
Sthala Purana: Not a Jyotirliṅga passage; the verse frames karmic consequence (śāpa) and extraordinary memory (jātismaratā) as narrative devices in the Śaṅkhacūḍa–Tulasī episode.
FAQs
It highlights how karmic forces such as a śāpa (curse) can determine one’s embodied role, yet divine grace can preserve higher awareness—here, jātismaratā (memory of past births). In Shaiva understanding, bondage arises through karma and circumstance, while liberating clarity comes by divine favor and right knowledge.
Though the verse names Rādhikā and Kṛṣṇa, the Yuddha-khaṇḍa framework repeatedly teaches that worldly power (even as a ‘lord of Dānavas’) is unstable, whereas steady refuge is taken in the Supreme Lord’s grace. In Shiva Purana practice, this is expressed through turning the mind from status and conflict toward Saguna Shiva worship—Linga-upāsanā, mantra, and devotion for inner purification.
The practical takeaway is to counteract karmic upheavals by disciplined remembrance and devotion: daily japa of the Panchākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”), coupled with simple Linga worship (water/leaf offerings) and Tripuṇḍra-bhasma dhāraṇa, cultivating steady awareness beyond changing births and roles.