Shloka 51
Niṣādasya Bhillasya Itihāsaḥ — Śivarātri-vrata-prabhāvaḥ
The Hunter’s Account and the Efficacy of the Śivarātri Observance
पुष्टं मृगं च तं दृष्ट्वा हृष्टो वनचरस्स वै । शरं धनुषि संधाय हन्तुं तं हि प्रचक्रमे
puṣṭaṃ mṛgaṃ ca taṃ dṛṣṭvā hṛṣṭo vanacarassa vai | śaraṃ dhanuṣi saṃdhāya hantuṃ taṃ hi pracakrame
പുഷ്ടമായ ആ മാൻ കണ്ടപ്പോൾ വനചരൻ ആനന്ദിച്ചു. വില്ലിൽ അമ്പ് ഘടിപ്പിച്ച് ഉടൻ തന്നെ അതിനെ കൊല്ലാൻ തുടങ്ങി.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Kālāntaka
Sthala Purana: The hunter’s intent to kill at the watercourse heightens the paradox central to many Śiva tīrtha/Jyotirliṅga accounts: even violent agents (bound by pāśa—karma, desire, ignorance) can be turned by Śiva’s grace when their action intersects a sanctified locus.
Significance: Serves as a warning and a promise: adharma near a tīrtha intensifies karmic consequence, yet the same sacred field can become the stage for sudden transformation through anugraha.
Shakti Form: Durgā
Role: protective
FAQs
It portrays the ordinary, desire-driven impulse (hunting for gain) that binds the paśu (individual soul) in karma; in Shaiva narratives, such moments often become the turning point where Shiva’s grace redirects the mind from violence and attachment toward dharma and eventual devotion.
Though the verse itself is a simple action scene, Kotirudra Samhita typically uses such worldly episodes to set up Shiva’s saguna intervention—where the devotee or even a non-devotee is led toward the Jyotirlinga’s presence, showing how Shiva becomes accessible in form (Liṅga) to transform and uplift beings.
A practical takeaway is ahiṃsā and restraint supported by japa: repeating the Pañcākṣarī mantra “Om Namaḥ Śivāya” to calm rajas (agitation) and redirect harmful impulses into Shiva-oriented awareness.