Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 3
पाशुपतज्ञानप्रश्नः — Inquiry into Pāśupata Knowledge
Paśu–Pāśa–Paśupati
सूत उवाच । इत्याकर्ण्य वचस्तेषां महर्षीणां प्रभंजनः । संस्मृत्य शिवमीशानं प्रवक्तुमुपचक्रमे
sūta uvāca | ityākarṇya vacasteṣāṃ maharṣīṇāṃ prabhaṃjanaḥ | saṃsmṛtya śivamīśānaṃ pravaktumupacakrame
Sūta berkata: Setelah mendengar sabda para maharsi itu, Prabhañjana mengingat Īśāna, Tuhan Śiva Yang Mahatinggi, lalu mulai bertutur.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Īśāna
Sthala Purana: Not a Jyotirliṅga account; it depicts the orthodox prelude to teaching: the expounder recollects/meditates on Īśāna Śiva before speaking, implying that discourse itself is empowered by Śiva’s grace.
Significance: Models the proper protocol for śāstra-kathā: smaraṇa/dhyāna of Śiva prior to exposition, aligning speech with divine authority and benefitting listeners.
Role: teaching
FAQs
The verse highlights the Shaiva ideal that sacred teaching begins with smaraṇa (recollection) of Pati—Śiva as Īśāna—so the discourse becomes aligned with divine grace and liberating knowledge rather than mere scholarship.
By remembering Śiva as Īśāna before speaking, the narrator models Saguna-upāsanā: invoking the Lord’s personal, guiding presence (often approached through the Liṅga) as the doorway to understanding the higher truth He reveals.
A simple practice is recommended implicitly: begin study or recitation with Śiva-smaraṇa—mentally invoking “Om Namaḥ Śivāya,” and, if one follows Shaiva observance, applying vibhūti (tripuṇḍra) and holding rudrākṣa while commencing scriptural reading.