Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 83
सेवातत्त्वप्रश्नः — The Question of Whom to Serve (Sevā) for the Removal of Suffering
अथवा च शिवः पूज्यो मूलमेकं विशिष्यते । मूले सिक्ते तथा शाखास्तृप्तास्सत्यखिलास्सुराः
athavā ca śivaḥ pūjyo mūlamekaṃ viśiṣyate | mūle sikte tathā śākhāstṛptāssatyakhilāssurāḥ
หรืออีกนัยหนึ่ง พึงบูชาพระศิวะเพียงองค์เดียว—พระองค์ทรงเป็นรากเหง้าอันสูงสุดเพียงหนึ่งเดียว เมื่อรากได้รับการรดน้ำ กิ่งก้านย่อมอิ่มเอม ฉันใดก็ฉันนั้น แท้จริงเมื่อบูชาพระศิวะ เทวะทั้งปวงย่อมยินดี
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Sadāśiva
Sthala Purana: Uses the root-and-branches nyāya to assert Śiva as the singular supreme cause/support; worship of the root (Śiva) automatically nourishes subsidiary deities.
Significance: Encourages ekānta-śaiva-bhakti: focusing worship on Śiva as the most efficacious means for overall deva-tarpaṇa and spiritual progress.
Type: stotra
Offering: pushpa
FAQs
It teaches that Shiva is the fundamental source (the ‘root’) of divine power; devotion to Him harmonizes and fulfills all subordinate divine functions, culminating in Shiva’s grace (anugraha) that leads the soul toward liberation.
The Linga represents Shiva as the supreme Reality accessible to worship; honoring Shiva in a concrete, saguna form is described as honoring the root-cause, through which all other deity-worship becomes implicitly completed.
Perform Shiva-puja as primary: offer water (abhisheka) to the Shiva-linga, repeat the Panchakshara mantra ‘Om Namaḥ Śivāya,’ and maintain single-pointed devotion—like watering the root to nourish the whole tree.