Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 4

कालतत्त्वनिर्णयः / Doctrine of Kāla (Time) and Its Subordination to Śiva

Devanagari script

भूतभव्यभविष्याद्यैर्विभज्य जरयन् प्रजाः । अतिप्रभुरिति स्वैरं वर्तते ऽतिभयंकरः

Transliteration

bhūtabhavyabhaviṣyādyairvibhajya jarayan prajāḥ | atiprabhuriti svairaṃ vartate 'tibhayaṃkaraḥ

Translation

ഭൂതം, വർത്തമാനം, ഭാവി എന്നിങ്ങനെ വിഭജിച്ച് അവൻ പ്രജകളെ ക്ഷയിപ്പിക്കുന്നു. താനേ ‘അതിപ്രഭു’ എന്നു കരുതി സ്വേച്ഛയായി സഞ്ചരിക്കുന്നു—അത്യന്തം ഭയങ്കരൻ.

Word by Word

• bhūta-bhavya-bhaviṣyat-ādyaiḥ: by past, present, future, etc.
• bhūta-bhavya-bhaviṣyat-ādyaiḥ: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhūta (प्रातिपदिक) + bhavya (प्रातिपदिक) + bhaviṣyat (bhū-धातु, शतृ/कृदन्त as future participial stem) + ādi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), बहुवचन; समाहार-द्वन्द्व: ‘by (the divisions such as) past, present, future, etc.’

• vibhajya: having divided
• vibhajya: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi-bhaj (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त; ल्यप्/क्त्वा-अर्थे (absolutive)

• jarayan: aging (causing to wither)
• jarayan: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Verb
• Root: jar (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त; शतृ-प्रत्यय (present active participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; ‘causing to age’

• prajāḥ: creatures, subjects
• prajāḥ: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prajā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2), बहुवचन

• ati-prabhuḥ: overmighty
• ati-prabhuḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ati (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + prabhu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; ‘exceedingly powerful’

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; quotative particle

• svairam: at will, freely
• svairam: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: svaira (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् प्रयोग; क्रियाविशेषण (adverbial accusative)

• vartate: acts, behaves, proceeds
• vartate: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vṛt (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• ati-bhayaṃkaraḥ: very terrifying
• ati-bhayaṃkaraḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ati (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + bhayaṃkara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन; ‘exceedingly fearsome’

Speaker

Suta Goswami

Shaiva Theology

Tattva Level: pasha

Shiva Form: Mahākāla

Jyotirlinga Context

Jyotirlinga: Mahākāleśvara

Sthala Purana: Mahākāla is revered as the Lord who subdues Time; the Ujjayinī liṅga is famed as a self-manifesting center where Śiva is worshipped as Mahākāleśvara, the great Lord of Kāla, granting protection from untimely death and fear of time.

Significance: Darśana is sought for mastery over fear of death/time, steadiness of mind, and auspicious transformation through confronting impermanence.

Shakti Dimension

Shakti Form: Kālī

Role: destructive

Cosmic Context

Cosmic Event: kāla as the cosmic aging-force dividing beings into past/present/future and consuming embodied life

Characters & Entities

• Kala (Time)
• Prajah (beings)

FAQs

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

It portrays Kāla (Time) as a fearsome power that classifies beings into past–present–future and thereby causes decay; Shaiva Siddhanta points the seeker to Pati (Shiva) as the one who transcends Kāla and grants release from this bondage.

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

Kāla appears as an overpowering lord within the world-process, but Linga-worship directs the mind to Shiva as the true Lord (Pati) who is beyond the divisions of time; Saguna Shiva becomes the accessible refuge through which the devotee crosses fear and mortality.

What ritualistic or meditative practice is suggested here?

Meditate on Shiva as Kāla-tīta (beyond time) while repeating the Panchākṣarī “Om Namaḥ Śivāya,” and steady the mind with Tripuṇḍra (bhasma) and Rudrākṣa as reminders of impermanence and the vow to seek liberation.