Shloka 48
Adhyāya 25 — Liṅga-māhātmya (The Chapter on the Liṅga): Hari’s Śiva-Worship and the Fiery Pillar Theophany
प्रविश्य देवभवनं मार्कण्डेयेन चैव हि / पूजयामास लिङ्गस्थं भूतेशं भूतिभूषणम्
praviśya devabhavanaṃ mārkaṇḍeyena caiva hi / pūjayāmāsa liṅgasthaṃ bhūteśaṃ bhūtibhūṣaṇam
దేవాలయములో ప్రవేశించి, మార్కండేయునితో కూడి, లింగస్థుడైన భూతేశుని—భూతియే భూషణమైన ప్రభువును—ఆరాధించెను।
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator describing the event within the Markandeya episode)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
By presenting Bhūteśa as “liṅgastha”—present in a sacred symbol yet transcendent as “Lord of beings”—the verse points to the Supreme as both immanent (accessible in worship) and beyond form, aligning with the Purāṇa’s non-sectarian vision of one ultimate reality approached through Śiva’s liṅga.
The verse foregrounds pūjā as a disciplined sādhana: entering a consecrated space, focusing the mind on the liṅga as an ālambana (support), and offering reverence—practices that support Pāśupata-oriented purification, steadiness of attention, and devotion leading toward inner contemplation.
Although explicitly centered on Śiva (Bhūteśa), the Kurma Purana’s broader synthesis treats such worship as consonant with devotion to the one Supreme; honoring Śiva in the liṅga is portrayed as a valid path within the same overarching dharma that the Purāṇa associates with Hari–Hara unity.