Shloka 85
Śiva-nāma-sahasraka-kathana
The Recital/Teaching of the Thousand Names of Śiva
चामुण्डो जनकश्चारुर्निश्शल्यो लोकशल्यधृक् । चतुर्वेदश्चतुर्भावश्चतुरश्चतुर प्रियः
cāmuṇḍo janakaścārurniśśalyo lokaśalyadhṛk | caturvedaścaturbhāvaścaturaścatura priyaḥ
അവൻ ചാമുണ്ഡൻ, ജനകൻ, ചാരു, നിശ്ശല്യൻ, ലോകശല്യധൃക്—ലോകത്തിന്റെ ഭാരവും വേദനയും ധരിക്കുന്നവൻ. അവൻ ചതുര്വേദസ്വരൂപൻ, ചതുര്ഭാവസ്വരൂപൻ, പരമ ചതുരൻ, നാലുദിക്കിലും പ്രിയൻ—സർവ്വത്ര വന്ദ്യൻ.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Bhairava
Sthala Purana: Not a Jyotirliṅga localization; the epithet ‘Cāmuṇḍa’ evokes protective, cremation-ground/guardian resonances often associated with Bhairava-kṣetrapāla traditions at major Śiva temples.
Significance: Invokes Śiva as remover/bearer of the world’s ‘śalya’ (thorn-like afflictions), supporting protection and relief from duḥkha alongside Vedic authority (caturveda).
Type: stotra
Shakti Form: Caṇḍikā
Role: destructive
Offering: dipa
FAQs
This verse functions as a litany of Shiva’s epithets, teaching that the one Pati (Lord) is simultaneously fierce protector and auspicious benefactor—free from limitation, yet bearing and healing the world’s afflictions—so remembrance of his names steadies the devotee toward grace and liberation.
The verse praises Saguna Shiva through names and qualities that devotees can contemplate while worshiping the Linga—recognizing the Linga as the accessible form in which the Veda-essence Lord receives devotion and removes the ‘thorns’ of suffering from worldly life.
A practical takeaway is nāma-japa: reciting these Shiva epithets (ideally alongside the Panchakshara, “Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) during Linga-pūjā, with Tripuṇḍra (bhasma) and Rudrākṣa as supports for steady remembrance and inner purification.