Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 4
दक्षस्य रुद्रनिन्दा-निमित्तकथनम् / The Cause of Dakṣa’s Censure of Rudra
वायुरुवाव । शृण्वंतु कथयिष्यामि दक्षस्य लघुचेतसः । वृत्तं पापात्प्रमादाच्च विश्वामरविदूषणम्
vāyuruvāva | śṛṇvaṃtu kathayiṣyāmi dakṣasya laghucetasaḥ | vṛttaṃ pāpātpramādācca viśvāmaravidūṣaṇam
Vāyu dit : «Écoutez. Je vais raconter l’épisode concernant Dakṣa, à l’esprit étroit : un événement né du péché et de l’inadvertance, qui couvrit les dieux de honte et troubla l’ordre du monde.»
Vayu
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Bhairava
Sthala Purana: Introductory narration to the Dakṣa episode; while some kṣetras connect to Dakṣa-yajña lore, this verse itself is not anchored to a Jyotirliṅga.
Significance: Didactic warning: petty-mindedness (laghu-cetas) and pramāda lead to deva-apacāra and cosmic disturbance; devotion and humility avert such downfall and invite Śiva’s grace.
Cosmic Event: Foreshadows disruption of deva-order (amara-vidūṣaṇa) and world-order due to adharmic conduct.
FAQs
The verse frames Daksha’s downfall as arising from pāpa (sin) and pramāda (heedlessness), teaching that spiritual negligence and ego cloud discernment and become pāśa (bondage) that disrupts dharma and divine harmony.
By warning that ritual actions can be corrupted by pride and inattentiveness, it implies that worship—especially of Saguna Shiva through the Linga—must be grounded in humility, devotion, and right understanding, not mere external performance.
The practical takeaway is apramāda (wakeful attentiveness) in sādhana—steady japa of the Panchākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) and disciplined, humble worship so that ritual does not become empty or ego-driven.