Shloka 1

Devanagari script

इति श्रीलिङ्गमहापुराणे पूर्वभागे ऽष्टचत्वारिंशो ऽध्यायः सूत उवाच शतमेकं सहस्राणां योजनानां स तु स्मृतः अनु द्वीपं सहस्राणां द्विगुणं द्विगुणोत्तरम्

Transliteration

iti śrīliṅgamahāpurāṇe pūrvabhāge 'ṣṭacatvāriṃśo 'dhyāyaḥ sūta uvāca śatamekaṃ sahasrāṇāṃ yojanānāṃ sa tu smṛtaḥ anu dvīpaṃ sahasrāṇāṃ dviguṇaṃ dviguṇottaram

Translation

Assim, no Śrī Liṅga Mahāpurāṇa, no Pūrvabhāga, disse Sūta: «Recorda-se que a medida é de cento e um mil yojanas; e, para cada dvīpa sucessivo, a medida aumenta—dobrando, e dobrando de novo, em progressão cada vez mais elevada».

Word by Word

• iti: thus

• śrī-liṅga-mahāpurāṇe: in the venerable Liṅga Mahāpurāṇa

• pūrvabhāge: in the former section

• 'dhyāyaḥ: chapter

• sūta uvāca: Sūta said

• śatam ekam: one hundred and one

• sahasrāṇām: of thousands

• yojanānām: of yojanas (a measure of distance)

• saḥ: that (measure)

• tu: indeed

• smṛtaḥ: is remembered/declared in tradition

• anu: successively/according to

• dvīpam: (each) island-continent

• sahasrāṇām: (in) thousands

• dviguṇam: doubled

• dviguṇa-uttaram: increasing by repeated doubling / higher by doubling.

Speaker

Suta Goswami

Characters & Entities

• Suta

FAQs

What is the importance of this verse in the context of Linga worship?

By giving measured, ordered cosmology, the verse frames the universe as a structured manifestation within Śiva’s governance (Pati). For Liṅga-worship, this supports the contemplative view that all realms and measures rest in Mahādeva, making pūjā both devotion and cosmic alignment.

How does this verse describe the nature of Shiva (Shiva-tattva)?

Though Śiva is not named directly, the orderly doubling of realms implies a cosmos sustained by an intelligible, sovereign principle—Pati—who transcends measure yet allows measure to appear. In Śaiva Siddhānta terms, the measurable world belongs to pāśa (objective order), while Śiva-tattva remains the ultimate ground of that order.

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

No specific rite is prescribed; the takeaway is dhyāna rooted in cosmic vastness—using cosmological order as a support for śiva-smaraṇa (remembrance of Śiva) and for loosening pāśa through contemplative discernment of the seen (world-order) from the Seer (Pati).