Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 51
भक्ताधिकारि-द्विजधर्म-योगिलक्षणवर्णनम् / Duties of Qualified Devotees and Marks of Yogins
ज्ञानामृतेन तृप्तस्य भक्त्या शैवशिवात्मनः । नांतर्न च बहिः कृष्ण कृत्यमस्ति कदाचन
jñānāmṛtena tṛptasya bhaktyā śaivaśivātmanaḥ | nāṃtarna ca bahiḥ kṛṣṇa kṛtyamasti kadācana
हे कृष्णा, जो ज्ञानामृताने तृप्त आहे आणि भक्तीने शैव—शिवस्वरूप—झाला आहे, त्याला अंतरी वा बाहेरी कधीही कोणतेही बंधनकारक कर्तव्य उरत नाही.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Sadāśiva
Role: liberating
FAQs
It teaches that when devotion ripens into direct liberating knowledge—making the seeker “Śiva-natured”—bondage-born compulsion falls away; such a one is inwardly and outwardly established in Śiva and is no longer driven by obligatory karma.
Linga/Saguna worship is a primary means that purifies the soul (pāśu) and loosens bonds (pāśa); when that devotion culminates in jñāna and Śiva-realization, the practitioner transcends compulsion, though they may still worship spontaneously out of love.
The takeaway is steady bhakti leading to jñāna: daily japa of the Pañcākṣarī ("Om Namaḥ Śivāya"), meditation on Śiva within, and supportive observances like bhasma (tripuṇḍra) and rudrākṣa—performed not as burden, but as devotion that matures into liberation.