Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 42
अवभृथस्नान-तीर्थयात्रा-तेजोदर्शनम् | Avabhṛtha Bath, Tīrtha-Pilgrimage, and the Vision of Divine Radiance
कथंचिदुष्ट्रता तस्य प्रयत्नेन निवारिता । प्रापितो हि यथापूर्वं सनत्पूर्वां कुमारताम्
kathaṃciduṣṭratā tasya prayatnena nivāritā | prāpito hi yathāpūrvaṃ sanatpūrvāṃ kumāratām
ശ്രമത്തോടെ എങ്ങനെയോ അവന്റെ ഒട്ടകസദൃശമായ അവസ്ഥ (അധോഗതി) തടയപ്പെട്ടു; പിന്നെ മുൻപുപോലെ സനത്കുമാരന്റെ നിർമല കുമാരത്വം അവൻ വീണ്ടും പ്രാപിച്ചു.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Sadāśiva
Role: liberating
FAQs
It teaches that degraded, tamasic tendencies can be restrained through sustained effort (prayatna), allowing the soul to return toward its original clarity and detachment—an image likened to Sanatkumāra’s pure, ever-youthful spiritual state.
In Shaiva practice, devotion to Saguna Shiva (often through Linga worship) supports inner restraint and purification; the verse points to that transformative discipline by which coarse impulses are checked and the seeker is re-established in sattvic steadiness.
The takeaway is disciplined self-restraint supported by Shaiva sadhana—regular japa of the Panchakshara (Om Namaḥ Śivāya), meditation on Shiva, and purificatory observances like Tripuṇḍra (bhasma) and Rudrākṣa when appropriate.