Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 5
अन्धक-प्रश्नः — Inquiry into Andhaka
Genealogy and Nature
सनत्कुमार उवाच । शृणु व्यास महेशस्य चरितं मंगलायनम् । यथान्धको गाणपत्यं प्राप शंभोः परात्मनः
sanatkumāra uvāca | śṛṇu vyāsa maheśasya caritaṃ maṃgalāyanam | yathāndhako gāṇapatyaṃ prāpa śaṃbhoḥ parātmanaḥ
Sanatkumāra dit : « Écoute, ô Vyāsa, le récit de Maheśa, auspicious et dispensateur de mérite : comment Andhaka obtint de Śambhu, le Soi suprême, la seigneurie sur les gaṇas de Śiva ».
Sanatkumara
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Mahādeva
FAQs
The verse frames Śiva’s deeds as “maṅgalāyana”—a direct source of auspiciousness—teaching that śravaṇa (devotional listening) to Śiva-kathā purifies the soul and draws Śiva’s grace, who is affirmed here as Parātman, the supreme Lord (Pati) over all.
By praising Maheśa/Śambhu’s “carita,” it points to Saguna Śiva—Śiva known through divine names, forms, and actions—whose compassionate governance (including over the gaṇas) is contemplated in Linga worship as the living presence of the Lord who bestows boons and disciplines ego.
The immediate practice is śravaṇa and manana: regularly hear/recite Śiva Purāṇa narratives with devotion, ideally alongside Panchākṣarī japa (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) and simple Śiva-upacāra (bhasma/Tripuṇḍra and Rudrākṣa, where appropriate) to steady the mind in Śiva-bhakti.