Shloka 18
Naimiṣa-kṣetra-prādurbhāva and Jāpyeśvara-māhātmya — Nandī’s Birth, Japa, and Consecration
अभूदृषिः स धर्मात्मा शिलादो नाम धर्मवित् / आराधयन्महादेवं पुत्रार्थं वृषभध्वजम्
abhūdṛṣiḥ sa dharmātmā śilādo nāma dharmavit / ārādhayanmahādevaṃ putrārthaṃ vṛṣabhadhvajam
ധർമ്മാത്മാവായ ഒരു ഋഷി ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു—ധർമ്മവിദനായ ‘ശിലാദ’ എന്ന പേരുള്ളവൻ—പുത്രാർത്ഥമായി വൃഷഭധ്വജനായ മഹാദേവനെ ആരാധിച്ചു.
Narrator (Purāṇic sage recounting the lineage/story within the Kurma Purana)
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: bhakti
FAQs
Indirectly: it presents Mahādeva as the supreme refuge whom a dharmic sage approaches for life’s highest aims; the Purāṇic frame often treats such devotion as a gateway to realizing the inner Self through grace and disciplined dharma.
The verse highlights ārādhana (devotional propitiation)—a foundational practice aligned with Pāśupata-oriented worship: disciplined devotion, mantra/ritual focus, and sustained intention (saṅkalpa) directed to Śiva for both worldly and spiritual ends.
By foregrounding Mahādeva as the object of worship within the Kurma Purana’s broader theological landscape, it supports the text’s synthesis where sectarian deities function as complementary manifestations of the one supreme reality, honored through dharma and devotion.