Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 24
युद्धप्रारम्भवर्णनम् — Description of the Commencement of Battle
भूमौ निपतितास्तत्र शतशोऽथ सहस्रशः । निकृत्तांगा महाशस्त्रैर्निहता वीरसंमताः
bhūmau nipatitāstatra śataśo'tha sahasraśaḥ | nikṛttāṃgā mahāśastrairnihatā vīrasaṃmatāḥ
तेथे भूमीवर ते शेकडो-हजारो करून कोसळले. महाशस्त्रांनी त्यांचे अवयव छिन्न झाले; वीर म्हणून मान्य व प्रशंसित असेही मारले गेले.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Vīrabhadra
FAQs
It underscores impermanence: even those celebrated as heroes fall when karma ripens. In Shaiva understanding, true victory is not worldly conquest but turning the mind toward Shiva—the Pati—who alone grants liberation beyond birth and death.
By portraying the fragility of embodied life, the verse implicitly directs the seeker from transient power to the stable refuge of Saguna Shiva worship—Linga-upasana—where devotion and surrender purify the soul and loosen bondage (pāśa).
A practical takeaway is japa of the Pañcākṣarī mantra (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) with contemplation on mortality and detachment; applying bhasma (tripuṇḍra) as a reminder that the body ends in ash can support vairāgya.