Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 37
लिङ्गप्रतिष्ठा-माहात्म्यम् / The Greatness of Liṅga Installation
मनोनिलजवो भूत्वा गतस्तूर्ध्वं प्रयत्नतः । नारायणोपि विश्वात्मा लीलाञ्जनचयोपमम्
manonilajavo bhūtvā gatastūrdhvaṃ prayatnataḥ | nārāyaṇopi viśvātmā līlāñjanacayopamam
मन व वायूसारखा वेग धारण करून तो प्रयत्नाने वर गेला. आणि विश्वात्मा नारायणही प्रयत्नपूर्वक उर्ध्वगामी झाले—जणू लीलामय अंजनराशीप्रमाणे श्याम प्रभा.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Liṅgodbhava
Sthala Purana: The search intensifies: Brahmā speeds upward ‘like mind and wind’; Viṣṇu (Nārāyaṇa), the cosmic indweller, also strives—yet the narrative implies that even the viśvātmā cannot reach the limit of Śiva’s jyotis.
Significance: Underscores that cosmic status and yogic speed/effort do not ‘attain’ Śiva as an object; the paśu’s liberation comes when pāśa is removed by anugraha, not by competitive striving.
FAQs
It highlights that even the highest divine powers can strive upward with immense speed, yet the Supreme Reality (Pati) transcends mere movement and measurement—pointing the seeker toward inner realization rather than external conquest.
The upward striving recalls the classic Shaiva teaching that the Linga signifies the boundless, beginningless Lord: forms and cosmic stations may be ascended, but the Linga points to Shiva as the immeasurable foundation beyond all limits.
A practical takeaway is upward-drawing meditation (ūrdhva-gati of awareness) with japa of the Panchakshara—"Om Namaḥ Śivāya"—cultivating humility and focusing on the transcendent Lord beyond mind-speed and breath-speed.