Shloka 118
इत्युक्त्वा स महादेवो बालो लिंगे न्यलीयत । व्यासोऽपि मुंचन्नश्रूणि शिवप्रेमाकुलोऽभवत्
ityuktvā sa mahādevo bālo liṃge nyalīyata | vyāso'pi muṃcannaśrūṇi śivapremākulo'bhavat
ಹೀಗೆಂದು ಹೇಳಿ ಆ ಮಹಾದೇವನು ಬಾಲರೂಪದಿಂದ ಲಿಂಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಲೀನನಾದನು. ವ್ಯಾಸನೂ ಕಣ್ಣೀರು ಸುರಿಸಿ ಶಿವಪ್ರೇಮದಿಂದ ವ್ಯಾಕುಲನಾದನು.
Suta Goswami (narrating to the sages at Naimisharanya)
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Sadāśiva
Sthala Purana: A theophany motif: Mahādeva appears as a bāla (child-form), instructs, then ‘enters/merges into the liṅga’—a Purāṇic way of asserting the liṅga as the stable locus of Śiva’s presence after the transient manifestation withdraws.
Significance: Teaches darśana-theology: the devotee may receive direct encounter, yet Śiva remains accessible through the liṅga. The devotee’s tears (aśru) mark bhakti as a valid mode of knowing.
Role: liberating
FAQs
It shows that Śiva, though manifest in a saguna form (as a child), is ultimately non-different from the Liṅga-tattva; the devotee’s heart (Vyāsa) responds with pure bhakti, which becomes a direct means to Śiva’s grace and liberation.
The verse explicitly unites the personal manifestation of Śiva with the Liṅga as His sacred, worshipful presence—teaching that saguna darśana culminates in absorption into the Liṅga, the stable focus for devotion and realization.
Linga-upāsanā with heartfelt surrender—such as japa of the Pañcākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) and steady contemplation of Śiva in the Liṅga—cultivating devotion so intense that the mind naturally becomes one-pointed.