Shloka 60
नन्दिकेशावतारवर्णनम् (Nandikeśa Avatāra Varṇanam) — “Account of the Descent/Origin of Nandikeśvara”
पितोवाच । किं तपः किं परिज्ञानं को योगश्च प्रभुश्च ते । येन त्वं दारुणं दुःखं वञ्चयिष्यसि पुत्र मे
pitovāca | kiṃ tapaḥ kiṃ parijñānaṃ ko yogaśca prabhuśca te | yena tvaṃ dāruṇaṃ duḥkhaṃ vañcayiṣyasi putra me
父は言った。「汝のタパス（苦行）は何か。汝はいかなるパリジュニャーナ（真の識別と悟り）を得たのか。汝のヨーガは何であり、汝の主にして守護者は誰か。わが子よ、いかなる手段によって、この凄まじい悲苦を乗り越え、逃れようとするのか。」
Father (Pitā)
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Dakṣiṇāmūrti
Role: teaching
FAQs
It frames a core Shaiva inquiry: which disciplines (tapas, yoga) and which realized understanding (parijñāna) truly remove duḥkha. In Shaiva Siddhanta terms, sorrow is overcome when the soul (paśu) turns to the true Lord (Pati) and matures through right practice and insight.
By asking “who is your Prabhu?”, the verse points toward taking Shiva as the concrete refuge. In Purāṇic practice, that refuge is often expressed through Saguna worship—especially Linga-upāsanā—where devotion and discipline are anchored in a visible, worshipable form of the Lord.
The verse emphasizes tapas, yoga, and realized discernment; a Shaiva takeaway is steady japa of the Panchākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) with simple austerity and focused meditation on Shiva as Prabhu, supported by traditional aids like bhasma (Tripuṇḍra) and rudrākṣa where appropriate.