Shloka 14
पुराणश्रवणप्रस्तावः
Prologue to the Recitation of the Śaiva Purāṇa
बहुनात्र किमुक्तेन शिवे भक्त्या विमुच्यते । प्रसादाद्देवताभक्तिः प्रसादो भक्तिसंभवः । यथेहांकुरतो बीजं बीजतो वा यथांकुरः
bahunātra kimuktena śive bhaktyā vimucyate | prasādāddevatābhaktiḥ prasādo bhaktisaṃbhavaḥ | yathehāṃkurato bījaṃ bījato vā yathāṃkuraḥ
बहुनात्र किमुक्तेन—शिवे भक्त्या विमुच्यते। प्रसादाद्देवताभक्तिः, प्रसादो भक्तिसंभवः; अङ्कुराद्बीजमिह यथा, बीजातोऽङ्कुर एव च।
Sūta Gosvāmin (narrating Shiva Purana teachings to the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya)
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Mahādeva
Jyotirlinga: Viśvanātha
Sthala Purana: Kāśī’s Viśveśvara theology centers on mokṣa through Śiva’s prasāda; this verse explicitly states liberation (vimukti) through bhakti and grace, resonant with Kāśī’s mokṣa-kṣetra identity.
Significance: Frames liberation as the fruit of bhakti matured by Śiva’s grace; supports pilgrimage as a means to intensify devotion and receive prasāda.
Type: stotra
Role: liberating
FAQs
It teaches that moksha is attained through Śiva-bhakti, and that bhakti and Śiva’s prasāda mutually reinforce each other—forming a self-sustaining spiritual cycle like seed and sprout.
It supports Saguna upāsanā—devotion to Śiva as worshipped (often through the Liṅga)—as a direct means to liberation, where steady pūjā matures into grace, and grace deepens devotion.
Regular Śiva-pūjā with heartfelt bhakti—such as japa of the Pañcākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) and prayer for prasāda—since devotion itself is presented as the cause of liberation.