Shloka 41

Varaha-Pradurbhava Context: Prahlada’s Bhakti, Narasimha’s Ugra-Form, and Shiva’s Sharabha Intervention

Devanagari script

कालाय कालरूपाय नमः कालाङ्गहारिणे मीढुष्टमाय देवाय शितिकण्ठाय ते नमः

Transliteration

kālāya kālarūpāya namaḥ kālāṅgahāriṇe mīḍhuṣṭamāya devāya śitikaṇṭhāya te namaḥ

Translation

時そのもの、時を御姿とする御方よ、あなたに礼拝します。時の肢分を収め、万有を融解へ導く主に礼拝します。最も慈恵深き神、青喉の御方よ—おおシヴァ、あなたに帰敬します。

Word by Word

• कालाय: to Time (as Shiva)

• कालरूपाय: to Him whose form is Time

• नमः: salutation

• कालाङ्गहारिणे: to the remover/withdrawer of the limbs (powers) of Time, i.e., the one who brings dissolution beyond time

• मीढुष्टमाय: to the most gracious/most beneficent

• देवाय: to the God

• शितिकण्ठाय: to the Blue-throated One

• ते: to You

• नमः: salutation

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating a hymn within the Linga Purana’s Shaiva praise tradition)

Characters & Entities

• Shiva

FAQs

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

It frames the Liṅga as the sign of Pati (Śiva) who rules Time and also transcends it; worship thus aims at release of the paśu from pāśa (time-bound limitation) through devotion and mantra.

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

Śiva is presented as Kāla (the cosmic regulator) and also as the one who can withdraw Kāla’s power at dissolution—indicating the Siddhānta view of Pati as both immanent governor and transcendent liberator.

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

Japa of Śiva-nāmas (especially Kāla/Mahākāla and Śitikaṇṭha) during Liṅga-pūjā, supporting Pāśupata-oriented contemplation that the self (paśu) is bound by time and freed by Pati’s grace.