Adhyaya 70: आदिसर्गः—महत्-अहङ्कार-तन्मात्रा-भूतसृष्टिः, ब्रह्माण्डावरणम्, प्रजासर्गः, त्रिमूर्ति-शैवाधिष्ठानम्
यदाप्नोति यदादत्ते यच्चात्ति विषयानयम् यच्चास्य सततं भावस् तस्मादात्मा निरुच्यते
yadāpnoti yadādatte yaccātti viṣayānayam yaccāsya satataṃ bhāvas tasmādātmā nirucyate
สิ่งใดที่บรรลุและประสบ สิ่งใดที่รับเอาและยึดถือ สิ่งใดที่เสวยอารมณ์แห่งอินทรีย์เหล่านี้ และสิ่งใดที่เป็นภาวะภายในอันต่อเนื่อง—เพราะเหตุนั้นจึงเรียกว่า ‘อาตมัน’ คือดวงตนแท้.
Suta Goswami (narrating Shaiva teaching on Atman within the Linga Purana discourse)
It redirects worship from mere outer ritual to inner discernment: the true aim of Linga-puja is recognizing the Ātman as the experiencer within, and ultimately offering that limited ‘I-enjoyer’ (pashu-bhoktṛ) into Shiva, the supreme Pati.
By defining the Ātman as the one that experiences and maintains a continuous bhāva, it highlights the contrast between the individual pashu (limited experiencer under pāśa) and Shiva-tattva, the unbound Pati whose consciousness is not conditioned by sense-objects.
It supports Pashupata-style inward practice: witnessing the processes of ‘attaining, taking, and enjoying’ as functions of the embodied self, cultivating vairāgya (dispassion) and turning awareness toward Shiva as the freeing Lord beyond pāśa (bondage).