Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 19
शिवपुत्रजननवर्णनम् — Description of the Birth/Manifestation of Śiva’s Son
ब्रह्मोवाच । इति शप्त्वाखिलान्देवान् विष्ण्वाद्यान्सकलेश्वरी । उवाच पावकं क्रुद्धा भक्षकं शिवरेतसः
brahmovāca | iti śaptvākhilāndevān viṣṇvādyānsakaleśvarī | uvāca pāvakaṃ kruddhā bhakṣakaṃ śivaretasaḥ
برہما نے کہا—یوں وِشنو وغیرہ تمام دیوتاؤں کو شاپ دے کر، سب کی حاکم دیوی نے غضب میں پاوک (اگنی) سے کہا—“تو شِو کے ریتس کا بھکشک مقرر ہے۔”
Brahma
Tattva Level: pasha
Sthala Purana: Narrative transition: Brahmā reports that the Goddess, after cursing the devas, turns to Agni who had been tasked with consuming Śiva’s retas.
Shakti Form: Pārvatī
Role: teaching
FAQs
The verse highlights that even gods are bound by dharma and divine ordinance; the Goddess, as the regulating sovereignty of śakti, redirects cosmic events so Śiva’s divine energy is handled according to a higher order rather than personal will.
Śiva’s retas here symbolizes Śiva’s tangible, saguna working power in the cosmos—revered in Purāṇic devotion as sacred energy. Linga-worship honors Śiva as Pati whose śakti manifests creation and protection through ordered agencies like Agni.
A practical takeaway is disciplined reverence for Śiva-śakti through japa of the Pañcākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) and purity rites (bhasma/Tripuṇḍra where appropriate), cultivating restraint and surrender to divine law rather than anger or impulsive action.