Adhyaya 33: Pashupata Conduct, Bhasma-Vrata, and Shiva’s Boon to the Sages
युगे युगे महायोगी क्रीडते भस्मगुण्ठितः एवं चरत भद्रं वस् ततः सिद्धिमवाप्स्यथ
yuge yuge mahāyogī krīḍate bhasmaguṇṭhitaḥ evaṃ carata bhadraṃ vas tataḥ siddhimavāpsyatha
在每一个劫世中,大瑜伽行者(湿婆)自在游戏,身披圣灰。你们当如是而住、如是修行——愿吉祥属于你们——随后必得悉地(灵性成就)。
Suta Goswami (narrating Shiva’s Pāśupata-oriented teaching as preserved in the Linga Purana tradition)
It frames bhasma-dhāraṇa (wearing sacred ash) as a Shaiva identity-marker and inner discipline that supports Linga-upāsanā by turning the worshipper toward renunciation, purity, and devotion to Pati (Śiva).
Śiva is presented as Mahāyogī—free, self-luminous, and untouched—yet compassionately accessible through visible yogic signs like bhasma, guiding the paśu (soul) beyond pāśa (bondage) toward siddhi.
Bhasma-guṇṭhana/bhasma-dhāraṇa—smearing the body with sacred ash—paired with living a Pāśupata-style conduct (ācāra) that culminates in spiritual siddhi.