Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 21
अनुग्रह-स्वातन्त्र्य-प्रमाणविचारः | Inquiry into Pramāṇa, Divine Autonomy, and Grace
भोगः कर्मविपाकात्मा सुखदुःखात्मको मतः । न च कर्म शिवो ऽस्तीति तस्य भोगः किमात्मकः
bhogaḥ karmavipākātmā sukhaduḥkhātmako mataḥ | na ca karma śivo 'stīti tasya bhogaḥ kimātmakaḥ
भोग हा कर्मविपाकजन्य, सुख-दुःखरूप असा मानला जातो. पण शिव कर्मरहित आहेत; मग त्यांच्या बाबतीत ‘भोग’ कोणत्या स्वरूपाचा असू शकेल?
Suta Goswami (narrating the Vāyavīya philosophical discourse to the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya)
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Mahādeva
FAQs
It clarifies a core Shaiva Siddhanta point: pleasure and pain arise from karmic fruition for bound souls (paśu), but Shiva (Pati) is untouched by karma; therefore His “experience” is not like embodied enjoyment or suffering.
Linga/Saguna worship helps devotees approach the transcendent Shiva who is beyond karma; by devotion and grace, the soul’s karmic bondage is purified, while Shiva remains ever pure and unaffected.
Meditate on Shiva as karma-free (niṣkriya/akartā in the sense of being untouched by bondage) while repeating the Panchakshara—“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”—to seek purification of karmic fruition and movement toward moksha.