Shloka 1

रुद्राक्ष-माहात्म्य

Rudrākṣa Māhātmya — The Greatness of Rudraksha

Devanagari script

सूत उवाच । शौनकर्षे महाप्राज्ञ शिवरूपमहापते । शृणु रुद्रा क्षमाहात्म्यं समासात्कथयाम्यहम्

Transliteration

sūta uvāca | śaunakarṣe mahāprājña śivarūpamahāpate | śṛṇu rudrā kṣamāhātmyaṃ samāsātkathayāmyaham

Translation

သုတက ပြော၏။ ရှောနက၏ မျိုးဆက်၊ အလွန်ပညာရှိသူ၊ ရုပ်သဏ္ဌာန်တော်သည် ရှိဝဖြစ်သော မြင့်မြတ်သခင်—နားထောင်လော့။ ရုဒြာပရမ္ပရာအရ သင်ကြားထားသော က္ෂမာ (သည်းခံခြင်း/ခွင့်လွှတ်ခြင်း) ၏ မဟိမနှင့် သန့်ရှင်းအာနုဘော်ကို အကျဉ်းချုပ်၍ ငါဟောမည်။

Word by Word

• sūtaḥ: Sūta (the narrator)
• sūtaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sūta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Singular (एकवचन)

• uvāca: said/spoke
• uvāca: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: Perfect (लिट्), 3rd Person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद)

• śaunakarṣe: O Śaunakarṣi
• śaunakarṣe: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śaunakarṣi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Vocative (सम्बोधन/8), Singular (एकवचन)

• mahāprājña: O greatly wise one
• mahāprājña: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahāprājña (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Vocative (सम्बोधन/8), Singular (एकवचन); adjective qualifying the addressee

• śivarūpa-mahāpate: O great lord of Śiva-form
• śivarūpa-mahāpate: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śiva (प्रातिपदिक) + rūpa (प्रातिपदिक) + mahāpati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Vocative (सम्बोधन/8), Singular (एकवचन); ṣaṣṭhī-tatpuruṣa: 'of Śiva-form' + 'great lord'

• śṛṇu: listen
• śṛṇu: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: śru (धातु)
• Form: Imperative (लोट्), 2nd Person (मध्यमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद)

• rudrākṣa: O Rudrākṣa
• rudrākṣa: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rudrākṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Vocative (सम्बोधन/8), Singular (एकवचन); tatpuruṣa: rudra + akṣa

• kṣamāhātmyam: the greatness of forgiveness
• kṣamāhātmyam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṣamāhātmya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (द्वितीया/2), Singular (एकवचन); tatpuruṣa: 'the greatness of forgiveness'

• samāsāt: briefly
• samāsāt: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: samāsa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Avyaya (अव्यय), adverbial usage; Ablative-form used adverbially: 'in brief/briefly'

• kathayāmi: I narrate/tell
• kathayāmi: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kathaya (धातु; denom. from kathā)
• Form: Present (लट्), 1st Person (उत्तमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद)

• aham: I
• aham: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun (सर्वनाम), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Singular (एकवचन)

Speaker

Suta Goswami

Shaiva Theology

Tattva Level: pashu

Shiva Form: Dakṣiṇāmūrti

Shakti Dimension

Role: teaching

Characters & Entities

• Shiva
• Rudra
• Shaunaka

FAQs

What is the spiritual significance of this verse in the Shiva Purana?

This verse introduces kṣamā (forbearance/forgiveness) as a Shiva-like virtue that purifies the devotee’s mind, supports dharma, and prepares one for Shiva’s grace—central to liberation-oriented Shaiva practice.

How does this verse relate to the worship of the Linga or Saguna Shiva?

By calling the listener “śivarūpa,” the text links inner transformation with outer worship: Linga/Saguna Shiva devotion is meant to cultivate Shiva’s qualities—especially calmness and forgiveness—so worship becomes a means of inner purification.

What ritualistic or meditative practice is suggested here?

The immediate practice implied is śravaṇa (reverent listening) and cultivating kṣamā as a daily vrata; in Shaiva discipline this pairs naturally with japa of “Om Namaḥ Śivāya” and a sattvic restraint that reduces anger and karmic bondage.