Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 25
शिवदूतगमनानन्तरं शङ्खचूडस्य तुलसीसम्भाषणं युद्धप्रस्थान-तत्परता च / After Śiva’s Messenger Departs: Śaṅkhacūḍa’s Counsel with Tulasī and Readiness for War
गोमंतं वामतः कृत्वा प्रविष्टा पश्चिमोदधौ । तत्र गत्वा शंखचूडः शिव सेनां ददर्श ह
gomaṃtaṃ vāmataḥ kṛtvā praviṣṭā paścimodadhau | tatra gatvā śaṃkhacūḍaḥ śiva senāṃ dadarśa ha
ଗୋମନ୍ତ ପର୍ବତକୁ ବାମପାର୍ଶ୍ୱରେ ରଖି ସେ ପଶ୍ଚିମ ସମୁଦ୍ରରେ ପ୍ରବେଶ କଲା। ସେଠାକୁ ଯାଇ ଶଙ୍ଖଚୂଡ ଭଗବାନ ଶିବଙ୍କ ସେନାକୁ ଦେଖିଲା।
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Mahādeva
Sthala Purana: Not a jyotirliṅga episode; it is a campaign-movement marker: Śaṅkhacūḍa navigates by Gomanta and enters the western ocean, where he encounters Śiva’s gaṇa-senā—signaling Śiva’s protective sovereignty over directions and liminal spaces (sea).
Significance: By implication, coastal kṣetras and mountain passes become arenas of Śiva’s guardianship; remembrance of Śiva’s senā is protective (rakṣā-bhāva) for travelers and devotees.
FAQs
It marks the moment when adharmic power (Śaṅkhacūḍa) directly confronts Śiva’s ordained force; in Shaiva Siddhanta, it symbolizes Pati (Śiva) reasserting cosmic order over forces bound by mala (impurity) and ego.
Though the verse is narrative, it reflects Saguna Śiva as the active Lord who leads and empowers His sena; devotees worship the Liṅga as the accessible form of that same supreme Pati who protects dharma and grants grace.
The takeaway is remembrance of Śiva as protector—japa of the Pañcākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) with devotion, and maintaining Śaiva disciplines like Tripuṇḍra and rudrākṣa as aids to steady bhakti and courage.