Shloka 58
नरकलोकमार्गयमदूतस्वरूपवर्णनम् / Description of the Path to Naraka and the Nature of Yama’s Messengers
अनेन परिचारेण वृतं तं घोरदर्शनम् । यमं पश्यंति पापिष्ठाश्चित्रगुप्तं च भीषणम्
anena paricāreṇa vṛtaṃ taṃ ghoradarśanam | yamaṃ paśyaṃti pāpiṣṭhāścitraguptaṃ ca bhīṣaṇam
ಈ ಪರಿಚಾರಕ ಬಳಗದಿಂದ ಆವರಿಸಲ್ಪಟ್ಟ, ಘೋರ ದರ್ಶನನಾದ ಯಮನನ್ನು ಪಾಪಿಷ್ಠರು ನೋಡುತ್ತಾರೆ; ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಭೀಷಣನಾದ ಚಿತ್ರಗುಪ್ತನನ್ನೂ ಕಾಣುತ್ತಾರೆ.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pasha
Shiva Form: Mahākāla
Jyotirlinga: Mahākāleśvara
Sthala Purana: Mahākāla as the Lord beyond Time; the verse’s Yama-vision evokes the Mahākāla motif where death/time is subordinated to Śiva, though this passage itself is an afterlife-judgment scene rather than the Ujjain origin legend.
Significance: Darśana of Mahākāla is sought for fearlessness before death and relief from time-bound suffering; symbolically, refuge in Śiva transcends Yama’s terror.
FAQs
The verse underscores karmic accountability: those bound by pāśa (impurities and sin) are forced to face Yama and Chitragupta, symbolizing the inescapable moral order that Shaiva teaching urges one to transcend through purification and devotion to Pati (Shiva).
By contrasting the terror of karmic judgement with the refuge of Shiva, the passage implicitly points to Saguna Shiva worship—especially Linga-bhakti—as a means of cleansing pāpa and loosening bondage, moving the soul toward Shiva’s grace rather than fear-driven afterlife consequences.
A practical takeaway is regular Shiva-upāsanā—japa of the Panchakshara (Om Namaḥ Śivāya), wearing rudrākṣa, and applying tripuṇḍra (bhasma)—as disciplines for purification and reducing karmic fear.