Shloka 9
युधिष्ठिरेण संपृष्टो भीष्मो धर्मभृतां वरः । शरशय्यास्थितः प्रोचे तच्छृणुष्व वदामि ते
yudhiṣṭhireṇa saṃpṛṣṭo bhīṣmo dharmabhṛtāṃ varaḥ | śaraśayyāsthitaḥ proce tacchṛṇuṣva vadāmi te
Ditanya oleh Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīṣma—yang utama di antara para penegak dharma—berbaring di ranjang anak panah, lalu berkata: “Maka dengarkan; akan kukatakan kepadamu.”
Bhishma
Sthala Purana: Not a Jyotirliṅga episode; it borrows Mahābhārata’s Bhīṣma-upadeśa frame to authorize dharma-teaching that will be aligned to Śaiva merit (puṇya/phala).
Significance: Establishes dharma-śravaṇa (listening to righteous instruction) as itself meritorious and preparatory for Śaiva practice.
FAQs
It establishes the authority and solemnity of the teaching: a dharma-knower (Bhīṣma) instructs a sincere seeker (Yudhiṣṭhira), reflecting the Shaiva emphasis that right knowledge received through proper narration becomes a means toward clarity, devotion, and liberation.
Though this verse is introductory, it frames a dharma-discourse that, in the Shiva Purana’s Shaiva Siddhanta tone, typically culminates in guidance toward Saguna Shiva worship—devotion expressed through listening (śravaṇa), remembrance, and reverence for Shiva’s forms such as the Liṅga.
The immediate practice indicated is śravaṇa—attentive listening to sacred instruction; as a Shaiva takeaway, one may pair such listening with japa of the Panchakshara (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) to internalize the teaching.