Shloka 37

चाण्डालीसद्गतिवर्णनम् (Cāṇḍālī-sadgati-varṇanam) — “Account of the Cāṇḍālī’s Attainment of a Good Destiny”

Devanagari script

एवंविधं महालिंगं शंकरस्य महाबलम् । सर्वपापहरं सद्यः परमानन्ददायकम्

Transliteration

evaṃvidhaṃ mahāliṃgaṃ śaṃkarasya mahābalam | sarvapāpaharaṃ sadyaḥ paramānandadāyakam

Translation

ഇത്തരത്തിലുള്ള മഹാലിംഗം ശങ്കരന്റെ മഹാബലസ്വരൂപമാണ്; ഇത് ക്ഷണത്തിൽ സകലപാപങ്ങളും ഹരിച്ച് പരമാനന്ദം പ്രദാനം ചെയ്യുന്നു.

Word by Word

• एवं-विधम्: of such a kind
• एवं-विधम्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: evam (अव्यय) + vidha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (अव्यय-पूर्वपद: ‘एवं प्रकारः’); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• महा-लिङ्गम्: the great liṅga
• महा-लिङ्गम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + liṅga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (‘महच्च तत् लिङ्गम्’); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• शंकरस्य: of Śaṅkara
• शंकरस्य: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध; षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śaṃkara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन

• महा-बलम्: (is) great power
• महा-बलम्: Karta (कर्ता; विधेय-नाम)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + bala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (‘महच्च तत् बलम्’); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• सर्व-पाप-हरम्: remover of all sins
• सर्व-पाप-हरम्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + pāpa (प्रातिपदिक) + hara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (कर्मधारय/षष्ठीभाव: ‘सर्वाणि पापानि हरति’); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन (विशेषणरूपेण)

• सद्यः: immediately
• सद्यः: Kriya-visheshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sadyaḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (adverb: immediately)

• परम-आनन्द-दायकम्: giver of supreme bliss
• परम-आनन्द-दायकम्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: parama (प्रातिपदिक) + ānanda (प्रातिपदिक) + dāyaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (कर्मधारय/उपपद: ‘परम आनन्दं ददाति’); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन (विशेषण)

Speaker

Suta Goswami

Shaiva Theology

Tattva Level: pati

Shiva Form: Mahādeva

Jyotirlinga Context

Sthala Purana: The verse summarizes the māhātmya of a ‘Mahāliṅga’ identified in this chapter as ‘Mahābala’, emphasizing its immediate sin-destroying power and its capacity to confer paramānanda (mokṣa-oriented bliss).

Significance: Śravaṇa/darśana of the liṅga is framed as anugraha: it removes pāpa ‘at once’ and turns the devotee toward liberating bliss (paramānanda), i.e., movement from pāśa (bondage) toward Śiva’s grace.

Characters & Entities

• Shiva
• Shankara

FAQs

What is the spiritual significance of this verse in the Shiva Purana?

It proclaims the Mahāliṅga as Śiva’s living, grace-filled presence (saguṇa upāsanā) that swiftly burns accumulated pāpa and leads the devotee toward parama-ānanda—liberating bliss through Śiva’s anugraha.

How does this verse relate to the worship of the Linga or Saguna Shiva?

By calling the Liṅga ‘Śaṅkara’s great power,’ the verse presents the Liṅga as an accessible sacred form through which devotees approach the transcendent Lord; worship of this form becomes a direct means for purification and communion with Śiva.

What ritualistic or meditative practice is suggested here?

Linga-pūjā with abhiṣeka and japa—especially the Pañcākṣarī “Om Namaḥ Śivāya”—performed with devotion, is implied as a practice that purifies sins and steadies the mind toward Śiva’s bliss.