Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 10

त्रिपुरदाहवर्णनम् | Tripura-dāha-varṇanam

Description of the Burning of Tripura

Devanagari script

इति श्रीशिवमहापुराणे द्वितीयायां रुद्रसंहितायां पञ्चमे युद्धखंडे त्रिपुरदाहवर्णनं नाम दशमोऽध्यायः

Transliteration

iti śrīśivamahāpurāṇe dvitīyāyāṃ rudrasaṃhitāyāṃ pañcame yuddhakhaṃḍe tripuradāhavarṇanaṃ nāma daśamo'dhyāyaḥ

Translation

இவ்வாறு ஸ்ரீசிவமகாபுராணத்தின் இரண்டாம் நூலில் உள்ள ருத்ரஸம்ஹிதையின் ஐந்தாம் யுத்தகாண்டத்தில் ‘திரிபுரதாஹ வர்ணனம்’ எனும் பத்தாம் அத்தியாயம் நிறைவுற்றது।

Word by Word

• इति: thus; end-quote marker
• इति: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/quotative marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; इति-शब्दः (quotative particle)

• श्री-शिव-महा-पुराणे: in the Śrī Śiva Mahāpurāṇa
• श्री-शिव-महा-पुराणे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्री (प्रातिपदिक) + शिव (प्रातिपदिक) + महा (प्रातिपदिक) + पुराण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; अधिकरणे (locative)

• द्वितीयायाम्: in the second (section)
• द्वितीयायाम्: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: द्वितीय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying)

• रुद्र-संहितायाम्: in the Rudra-saṃhitā
• रुद्र-संहितायाम्: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रुद्र (प्रातिपदिक) + संहिता (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; अधिकरणे

• पञ्चमे: in the fifth
• पञ्चमे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पञ्चम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• युद्ध-खण्डे: in the Yuddha-khaṇḍa (war section)
• युद्ध-खण्डे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युद्ध (प्रातिपदिक) + खण्ड (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; अधिकरणे

• त्रिपुर-दाह-वर्णनम्: (the chapter) ‘Description of the burning of Tripura’
• त्रिपुर-दाह-वर्णनम्: Karta (कर्ता/subject—title)
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्रिपुर (प्रातिपदिक) + दाह (प्रातिपदिक) + वर्णन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; नामधेयम् (title as nominative)

• नाम: named; called
• नाम: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/naming marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nāma (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; नाम-शब्दः (naming particle)

• दशमः: tenth
• दशमः: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दशम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• अध्यायः: chapter
• अध्यायः: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्याय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्तृपद (heading)

Speaker

Suta Goswami

Jyotirlinga Context

Sthala Purana: Colophon verse (iti…): a textual closure marker naming the chapter ‘Tripuradāha-varṇana’.

Characters & Entities

• Shiva
• Tripura

FAQs

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

This is a colophon marking the completion of the Tripuradāha narrative, signaling that the episode is a teaching-unit: Shiva as the supreme Lord (Pati) dissolves the fortified “triple city” of bondage—symbolically the three impurities and entanglements that obstruct liberation—granting the path to moksha through His grace.

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

Though it is an ending formula, it frames Shiva’s leela as Tripurāntaka within the Rudra-saṃhitā: devotees contemplate Saguna Shiva’s cosmic act of dissolution as an aid to devotion, while recognizing that the same Shiva is ultimately beyond form (Nirguna) and is realized through sustained worship and inner purification.

What ritualistic or meditative practice is suggested here?

Use the completion of the chapter as a cue for pāraṇa-style reflection: mentally offer the fruits of reading to Shiva, repeat the Pañcākṣarī mantra “Om Namaḥ Śivāya,” and meditate on Shiva dissolving inner “Tripura” (ego, craving, and delusion), optionally while wearing rudrākṣa and applying tripuṇḍra (bhasma) in a Shaiva manner.