Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 29
श्रद्धामाहात्म्यं तथा देवीप्रश्नः
The Greatness of Śraddhā and Devī’s Question to Śiva
सा हानिस्तन्महच्छिद्रं स मोहस्सांधमूकता । यदन्यत्र श्रमं कुर्यान्मोक्षमार्गबहिष्कृतः । ज्ञानं क्रिया च चर्या च योगश्चेति सुरेश्वरि । चतुष्पादः समाख्यातो मम धर्मस्सनातनः
sā hānistanmahacchidraṃ sa mohassāṃdhamūkatā | yadanyatra śramaṃ kuryānmokṣamārgabahiṣkṛtaḥ | jñānaṃ kriyā ca caryā ca yogaśceti sureśvari | catuṣpādaḥ samākhyāto mama dharmassanātanaḥ
یہی نقصان ہے، یہی بڑا شگاف ہے، یہی فریب اور جمود بھری خاموش ماندگی ہے—جب کوئی نجات کے راستے سے محروم ہو کر کہیں اور مشقت کرے۔ اے سُریشوری، میرا ازلی دھرم چار ستونوں والا بتایا گیا ہے: گیان، کریا، چریا اور یوگ۔
Lord Shiva
Tattva Level: pasha
Shiva Form: Īśāna
Significance: Defines misdirected effort as spiritual loss and delusion; presents Siddhānta’s fourfold path (jñāna–kriyā–caryā–yoga) as the complete mokṣa-mārga.
Shakti Form: Pārvatī
Role: teaching
FAQs
It warns that effort spent outside the moksha-marga becomes spiritual loss and delusion, and it defines Shiva’s eternal Dharma as a balanced fourfold path—jñāna, kriyā, caryā, and yoga—integrating insight, worship, ethical discipline, and inner realization.
The ‘kriyā’ and ‘caryā’ limbs point to Saguna Shiva devotion expressed through temple/Linga worship, mantra, and observances, which—when grounded in jñāna and completed by yoga—become a direct support for liberation rather than mere worldly religiosity.
It implies steady kriyā (daily Shiva-pūjā, mantra-japa such as the Panchakshara) and caryā (vows, purity, right living), culminating in yoga (meditative absorption on Shiva) guided by jñāna (clear understanding of Pati–paśu–pāśa and the goal of moksha).