Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 24
ध्यानप्रकारनिर्णयः / Determination of the Modes of Meditation
on Śrīkaṇṭha-Śiva
पापोपहतबुद्धीनां तद्वार्तापि सुदुर्लभा । यथावह्निर्महादीप्तः शुष्कमार्द्रं च निर्दहेत्
pāpopahatabuddhīnāṃ tadvārtāpi sudurlabhā | yathāvahnirmahādīptaḥ śuṣkamārdraṃ ca nirdahet
പാപം കൊണ്ട് മുറിവേറ്റ ബുദ്ധിയുള്ളവർക്ക് അവന്റെ (ശിവന്റെ) വാർത്ത പോലും അത്യന്തം ദുർലഭം. എന്നാൽ മഹാദീപ്തമായ അഗ്നി ജ്വലിക്കുമ്പോൾ അത് ഉണങ്ങിയതും നനഞ്ഞതും—പ്രകടവും ആഴത്തിലുള്ളതുമായ—ഇരുവിധ മലിനതയും ദഹിപ്പിക്കുന്നു।
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Sadāśiva
Significance: Frames true access to Śiva (even hearing His teaching) as grace-dependent; implies inner purification is the real prerequisite for fruitful darśana and tīrtha-yātrā.
FAQs
It teaches that pāpa clouds the buddhi so deeply that even hearing about Śiva becomes rare; yet Śiva-jñāna and Śiva’s anugraha, once awakened, can burn away both surface faults and entrenched karmic residues, leading toward liberation.
Linga-worship and Saguna devotion make Śiva accessible to minds burdened by impurity; through Śiva-kathā, darśana, and pūjā, grace arises like fire—purifying the devotee and loosening the pāśa that binds the paśu to saṃsāra.
Regular Śiva-kathā-śravaṇa (hearing Śiva’s teachings) and japa of the Pañcākṣarī “Om Namaḥ Śivāya” are implied as purifying disciplines; combined with simple Śiva-pūjā (and, where traditional, bhasma/rudrākṣa observances), they ignite the inner ‘fire’ that consumes impurity.