Shloka 19
Varṇa-adhikāra, Karma, and the Protection of One’s Attained Spiritual Status (वर्णाधिकारः कर्म च स्वस्थानरक्षणम्)
व्यास उवाच । संग्रामस्येह माहात्म्यं त्वयोक्तं मुनिसत्तम । एतदिच्छाम्यहं श्रोतुं ब्रूहि त्वं वदतां वर
vyāsa uvāca | saṃgrāmasyeha māhātmyaṃ tvayoktaṃ munisattama | etadicchāmyahaṃ śrotuṃ brūhi tvaṃ vadatāṃ vara
ویاس نے کہا—اے بہترین رشی! آپ نے یہاں اس جنگ کی عظمت بیان کی ہے۔ میں اسے تفصیل سے سننا چاہتا ہوں؛ پس اے بہترین خطیب، مجھے بتائیے۔
Vyasa
Tattva Level: pashu
FAQs
It highlights śravaṇa (reverent listening) as a purifying Shaiva practice: the seeker (Vyāsa) asks for the full mahātmya, indicating that sacred glory becomes spiritually effective when heard with sincerity.
Though the verse itself is a request, it sets up the narration of a sacred episode whose mahātmya typically culminates in devotion to Saguna Shiva and reverence for Shiva’s divine governance (pati) over events that bind and liberate beings.
Devotional śravaṇa: hearing Shiva Purana kathā with attention and faith—often paired in Shaiva tradition with japa of the Pañcākṣarī (“Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) before or after the discourse.