Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 78
सेवातत्त्वप्रश्नः — The Question of Whom to Serve (Sevā) for the Removal of Suffering
द्वंद्वाप्राप्तौ न जायेतां सुखदुःखे विजानतः । विहिताविहिते तस्य न स्यातां च सुरर्षयः
dvaṃdvāprāptau na jāyetāṃ sukhaduḥkhe vijānataḥ | vihitāvihite tasya na syātāṃ ca surarṣayaḥ
தேவரிஷிகளே, உண்மையைத் தெளிவாக அறிந்தவனுக்கு இருமைகள் வந்தாலும் இன்பமும் துன்பமும் எழாது. அவனுக்கு விதிக்கப்பட்டதும் தடைசெய்யப்பட்டதும் கட்டுப்பாடாகாது; அவன் சிவநிலையிலான விவேகத்தில் நிலைத்திருப்பான்।
Suta Goswami (narrating to the sages at Naimisharanya within the Rudrasaṃhitā discourse)
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Mahādeva
Sthala Purana: General teaching on the jñānī: even when dvandvas arise, sukha/duḥkha do not arise for the knower; ‘vihita/avihita’ lose binding force—indicating transcendence of karmic compulsion through realization.
Significance: Recasts dharma/adharma as non-binding for the established knower (not as license, but as sign of being beyond karmic bondage), pointing to the ‘inner kṣetra’ of steadiness in Śiva.
Role: teaching
FAQs
It teaches that the knower established in true discernment remains untouched by dvandvas (opposites) like pleasure and pain, indicating a Shaiva ideal of inner steadiness that leads toward liberation (moksha) in Śiva.
Linga-worship and Saguna Shiva devotion are disciplines that purify the mind; as devotion matures into Shiva-jnana, the devotee becomes equanimous and no longer feels inward bondage to emotional swings or mere rule-based religiosity.
Practice dhyana on Shiva (or the Linga) with japa of the Panchakshara—“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”—cultivating sama-bhāva (equanimity) so that pleasure/pain and notions of do/do-not lose their power to disturb the mind.