Shiva Purana — Kotirudra Samhita, Shloka 46
दशशैवव्रतप्रश्नः — Inquiry into the Ten Principal Śaiva Vratas
यामेयामे यथा पूजा कार्या भक्तवरैर्हरे । शिवरात्रौ विशेषेण तामहं कथयामि ते
yāmeyāme yathā pūjā kāryā bhaktavarairhare | śivarātrau viśeṣeṇa tāmahaṃ kathayāmi te
Hỡi Hari, ta sẽ nói cho ngài biết cách các bậc tín đồ ưu tú nên cử hành lễ bái trong từng canh của đêm—đặc biệt là trong đêm thiêng liêng Śivarātri.
Lord Shiva
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Mahādeva
Significance: Śivarātri-yāma-pūjā is framed as a direct means to Śiva’s anugraha: intensified merit, purification of pāśa (bondage), and ripening of bhakti leading toward liberation.
FAQs
The verse frames Śivarātri as a uniquely potent night for structured, time-bound devotion—worship offered in each yāma disciplines the mind and turns bhakti into sustained contemplation of Pati (Śiva), aiding liberation.
By prescribing yāma-wise worship, the text points to repeated, reverent offerings to Saguna Śiva—commonly through the Śiva-liṅga—so the devotee’s attention repeatedly returns to Śiva’s gracious, accessible form while aspiring toward His transcendent reality.
Night-long Śivarātri observance with worship in each yāma—typically including mantra-japa (e.g., Pañcākṣarī), offerings/abhisheka, and vigilant devotion (jāgaraṇa) as a focused sādhana.