Linga Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 16

ध्यानयज्ञः, संसार-विष-निरूपणम्, पाशुपतयोगः, परा-अपरा विद्या, चतुर्वस्था-विचारः (अध्यायः ८६)

Devanagari script

निवृत्तिलक्षणो धर्मः समर्थानाम् इहोच्यते तस्मादज्ञानमूलो हि संसारः सर्वदेहिनाम्

Transliteration

nivṛttilakṣaṇo dharmaḥ samarthānām ihocyate tasmādajñānamūlo hi saṃsāraḥ sarvadehinām

Translation

यहाँ समर्थ जनों के लिए निवृत्ति-लक्षण धर्म का उपदेश किया गया है। इसलिए समस्त देहधारियों का संसार वास्तव में अज्ञान-मूलक है।

Word by Word

• निवृत्ति-लक्षणः: characterized by withdrawal/cessation

• धर्मः: dharma, sacred duty/path

• समर्थानाम्: of the competent/fit aspirants

• इह: here (in this teaching/world)

• उच्यते: is declared/taught

• तस्मात्: therefore

• अज्ञान-मूलः: having ignorance as its root

• हि: indeed

• संसारः: transmigratory existence

• सर्व-देहिनाम्: of all embodied beings

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating the Linga Purana discourse to the sages of Naimisharanya)

FAQs

What is the importance of this verse in the context of Linga worship?

It frames Linga-oriented Shaiva practice as nivṛtti—turning the mind from outer entanglement toward Pati (Shiva); such inward withdrawal is presented as the competent seeker’s dharma for breaking saṃsāra’s cycle.

How does this verse describe the nature of Shiva (Shiva-tattva)?

By identifying ajñāna as the root of bondage for embodied souls (pashu), it implies Shiva-tattva as the liberating Pati whose grace and knowledge dissolve ignorance and end saṃsāra.

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

Nivṛtti as a yogic discipline: sense-withdrawal, dispassion, and inward contemplation—core to Pashupata-oriented sadhana—so that ignorance-based bondage is cut at its root.