Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 23
षडध्ववेदनम् (Ṣaḍadhva-vedanam) — The Sixfold Path: Sound, Meaning, and Tattva-Distribution
तदूर्ध्वं विद्यया मध्ये यावद्विश्वेश्वरावधि । शान्त्या तदूर्ध्वं मध्वान्ते विशुद्धिः शान्त्यतीतया
tadūrdhvaṃ vidyayā madhye yāvadviśveśvarāvadhi | śāntyā tadūrdhvaṃ madhvānte viśuddhiḥ śāntyatītayā
त्याच्या वर मध्यप्रदेशात, विश्वेश्वराच्या अवस्थेपर्यंत, विद्येने सिद्धी प्राप्त होते। त्याहून वर, मध्यपथाच्या शेवटी शांती; आणि शांतीही अतिक्रमिल्यास (शांतितीता) शिवाभिमुख निर्मळ विशुद्धी मिळते।
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Sadāśiva
Jyotirlinga: Viśvanātha
Sthala Purana: The verse uses “Viśveśvara” as a tattvic/adhvan marker (Lord of the universe) rather than narrating a shrine-origin; it can be read devotionally as the Viśvanātha/Viśveśvara epithet of Śiva, famed at Kāśī.
Significance: Darśana of Viśvanātha is traditionally held to grant jñāna and mokṣa; in Siddhānta terms, it signifies ascent from vidyā to śānti and finally to śāntyatītā (orientation to Śiva).
Cosmic Event: Adhvan-ascent mapping: movement beyond vidyā to śānti and śāntyatītā (trans-peace), implying a supra-cosmic (śiva-oriented) purification.
FAQs
It presents an inward ascent: knowledge (vidyā) matures into deep peace (śānti), and finally into a state beyond even tranquility (śāntyatītā), where the soul abides in complete purity (viśuddhi) oriented toward Śiva as Pati (the supreme Lord).
Viśveśvara points to Śiva as the universal Lord worshipped in Saguna form (often through the Liṅga); the verse indicates that devotion and contemplation on the Lord culminate in inner purification, preparing the seeker to realize Śiva’s higher, subtler truth beyond ordinary mental calm.
It primarily suggests meditative progression—steady contemplation leading from insight to profound stillness, then to absorption beyond mental peace; in Shaiva practice this is commonly supported by japa of the Pañcākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) and disciplined inner worship (mānasa-pūjā).