Shiva Purana — Kotirudra Samhita, Shloka 80
Niṣādasya Bhillasya Itihāsaḥ — Śivarātri-vrata-prabhāvaḥ
The Hunter’s Account and the Efficacy of the Śivarātri Observance
शिव उवाच । इति तेषां वचश्श्रुत्वा व्याधो विस्मयमागतः । शिवपूजाप्रभावेण ज्ञानं दुर्लभमाप्तवान्
śiva uvāca | iti teṣāṃ vacaśśrutvā vyādho vismayamāgataḥ | śivapūjāprabhāveṇa jñānaṃ durlabhamāptavān
شیو نے فرمایا—ان کے کلمات سن کر شکاری حیرت میں ڈوب گیا؛ اور شیو پوجا کے اثر سے اس نے وہ نایاب گیان پا لیا جو دشوار سے ملتا ہے۔
Lord Shiva
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Dakṣiṇāmūrti
Sthala Purana: Śiva’s own speech interprets the event as the fruit of Śiva-pūjā: the hunter receives ‘durlabha jñāna’. This mirrors many Śiva-kathās where the Lord reveals the hidden meaning of seemingly ordinary acts.
Significance: Affirms that Śiva grants jñāna as grace (anugraha), not merely as intellectual attainment—central to Siddhānta soteriology.
Type: stotra
Role: teaching
FAQs
It teaches that even an ordinary person can attain rare liberating knowledge when devotion is directed to Pati (Śiva); Śiva-pūjā purifies the bound soul (paśu) and loosens bondage (pāśa), making jñāna arise by grace.
The verse highlights the “prabhāva” (transforming potency) of Śiva-worship—classically expressed through saguna upāsanā such as Liṅga-pūjā—by which the mind becomes fit for true knowledge of Śiva beyond form.
Regular Śiva-pūjā with mantra-japa (especially the Pañcākṣarī, “Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) and simple offerings is implied as the practical means through which inner clarity and jñāna become attainable.