Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 27
कालमान-निर्णयः
Determination of the Measures of Time
अहर्न विद्यते तस्य न रात्रिरिति धारयेत् । एषोपचारः क्रियते लोकानां हितकाम्यया
aharna vidyate tasya na rātririti dhārayet | eṣopacāraḥ kriyate lokānāṃ hitakāmyayā
അവനു ‘പകൽ’ ഇല്ല, ‘രാത്രി’ ഇല്ല എന്നു ദൃഢമായി ധരിക്കണം. ലോകഹിതം ആഗ്രഹിച്ചുകൊണ്ടാണ് ഇത്തരത്തിലുള്ള ഉപചാരപ്രയോഗം നടത്തുന്നത്।
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Sadāśiva
Role: teaching
FAQs
It teaches Shiva’s transcendence: as the supreme Pati, He is beyond temporal divisions like day and night, which belong to the changing world (pāśa) and not to the timeless Lord.
Though Shiva is beyond time, devotees worship Him through saguna forms like the Linga using worldly conventions (times, rituals, descriptions). The verse clarifies these are compassionate aids, not limits on Shiva’s true nature.
Meditate on Shiva as kāla-atīta (beyond time) while chanting the Panchakshara—“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”—so worship becomes contemplation of the One beyond dualities such as day/night.