Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 24
रुद्र-विष्णोः ऐकत्व-उपदेशः तथा धर्म-आज्ञा
Instruction on Rudra–Viṣṇu Unity and Divine Injunctions
निश्वासोच्छ्वासितानां च परिसंख्या न विद्यते । सदाशिवसमुत्थानमेतस्मात्सोऽक्षयः स्मृतः
niśvāsocchvāsitānāṃ ca parisaṃkhyā na vidyate | sadāśivasamutthānametasmātso'kṣayaḥ smṛtaḥ
ลมหายใจออกและลมหายใจเข้าไม่มีจำนวนที่กำหนดได้ จากสิ่งนี้เองมีการอุบัติขึ้นของพระสทาศิวะ เพราะฉะนั้นพระองค์จึงทรงเป็น ‘อักษยะ’ คือผู้ไม่เสื่อมสูญ॥
Suta Goswami (narrating the Rudrasaṃhitā account to the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya)
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Sadāśiva
Sthala Purana: Not a specific sthala episode; the verse frames Sadāśiva as Akṣaya (imperishable), grounding cosmology in the Lord’s inexhaustible sourcehood beyond measurable prāṇa/time.
Significance: Contemplation of Akṣaya-Sadāśiva is presented as a salvific orientation: turning the mind from countable phenomena (pāśa) to the uncountable Lord (Pati).
Type: stotra
Role: liberating
Cosmic Event: Implied transcendence of measurable time (kāla) by the Akṣaya Lord; cosmological ‘arising’ (samutthāna) without exhaustion.
FAQs
The verse points to immeasurability as a sign of the Absolute: just as breaths cannot be fully numbered, Sadāśiva—source of manifestation—is beyond limitation, hence remembered as Akṣaya (imperishable).
The Liṅga is worshipped as the sign of the limitless Lord: it represents Sadāśiva’s inexhaustible nature, making the devotee contemplate the unbounded reality behind all measurable phenomena.
Breath-aware japa is implied: silently repeat the Pañcākṣarī (Om Namaḥ Śivāya) with inhalation and exhalation, contemplating Sadāśiva as Akṣaya—steady, beginningless, and beyond count.