Shloka 53

Śivapūjā-vidhi: Purifications, Sūrya–Graha Mantras, Nyāsa, and Bhūtaśuddhi leading to Śivoham-bhāva

Devanagari script

अधोर्ध्ववदने द्वे च पद्मकर्णिककेसरम् / वामाद्या आत्मविद्या च सदा ध्यायेच्छिवाख्यकम्

Transliteration

adhordhvavadane dve ca padmakarṇikakesaram / vāmādyā ātmavidyā ca sadā dhyāyecchivākhyakam

Translation

အပေါ်ဘက်သို့ မျက်နှာမူသော မျက်နှာတစ်ခုနှင့် အောက်ဘက်သို့ မျက်နှာမူသော မျက်နှာတစ်ခု—မျက်နှာနှစ်ပါးရှိ၍၊ ကြာပန်း၏ အလယ်အုံနှင့် အမျှင်တန်းကဲ့သို့ အလှဆင်ထားကာ၊ ဝာမာနှင့် အခြားသော သက္တိများက ဝန်းရံနေသော ရှိဝရုပ်ကို အမြဲတမ်း သမాధိဖြင့် ဓ్యာနပြုရမည်။ ဤသည်မှာ အတ္တမသိဒ္ဓိ (အတ္မဗိဒျာ) ဖြစ်သည်။

Word by Word

• adhaḥ-ūrdhva-vadane: in the lower and upper faces/mouths
• adhaḥ-ūrdhva-vadane: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adhaḥ + ūrdhva + vadana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—अधः च ऊर्ध्वं च (द्वन्द्व) + वदने (उपपद-तत्पुरुषभाव)

• dve: two
• dve: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dvi (प्रातिपदिक/संख्या)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति, द्विवचन; संख्याविशेषण

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय

• padma-karṇikā-kesaram: the lotus’s pericarp and filaments
• padma-karṇikā-kesaram: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: padma + karṇikā + kesara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—पद्मस्य कर्णिका, तस्य केसरम् (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष-परम्परा)

• vāmādyā: beginning with Vāmā
• vāmādyā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vāmā + ādyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण; समासः—वामा आद्या यस्याः/या (कर्मधारय-प्राय)

• ātmavidyā: knowledge of the Self
• ātmavidyā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ātman + vidyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—आत्मनः विद्या (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय

• sadā: always
• sadā: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sadā (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक अव्यय (adverb of time)

• dhyāyet: one should meditate
• dhyāyet: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √dhyai (धातु)
• Form: लोट्-लकार (आज्ञार्थ/imperative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• śiva-ākhyakam: that which is named ‘Śiva’
• śiva-ākhyakam: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śiva + ākhyaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण; समासः—शिव इति आख्यं यस्य (बहुव्रीहि-प्राय; व्यवहारतः उपपद-तत्पुरुष)

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (teaching Garuda/Vinata-putra)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Meditation on the Śiva-principle attended by Vāmā and other śaktis as ātma-vidyā (knowledge of Self).

Vedantic Theme: Nondual pointer: the deity-form as upāya leading to recognition of the witnessing Self beyond directions (ūrdhva/adho).

Application: Use form-meditation (saguṇa) to stabilize mind, then inquire into the ‘seer’ of both upward and downward aspects—cultivating self-abidance.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Geographic Context

Type: inner sanctum/heart-lotus visualization

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana 1.23 (dhyāna of lotus-seat and śakti-attendance)

Characters & Entities

• Shiva
• Vāmā (Śiva-śakti)

FAQs

What is the importance of Shiva-dhyana in the Garuda Purana?

This verse frames meditation on the Śiva-form as ātma-vidyā—an inner discipline aimed at realizing the Self, not merely external worship.

How does this verse explain the path of the soul?

By emphasizing sustained meditation and Self-knowledge, it points to liberation-oriented practice: refining awareness toward the divine principle identified here as Śiva.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Adopt a daily meditation routine focused on a sacred form or mantra, using it as a tool for self-inquiry, steadiness of mind, and ethical clarity.