Shloka 2

Adhyaya 33: Pashupata Conduct, Bhasma-Vrata, and Shiva’s Boon to the Sages

Devanagari script

यः पठेच्छृणुयाद्वापि युष्माभिः कीर्तितं स्तवम् श्रावयेद्वा द्विजान्विप्रो गाणपत्यमवाप्नुयात्

Transliteration

yaḥ paṭhecchṛṇuyādvāpi yuṣmābhiḥ kīrtitaṃ stavam śrāvayedvā dvijānvipro gāṇapatyamavāpnuyāt

Translation

凡诵读或仅仅聆听你们所称赞的此赞颂者；又有博学的婆罗门使诸“二次生”亦得闻之者——皆将获得“伽那帕底亚”之位，即与伽那帕提相应的恩宠与主宰力，作为顺应湿婆神圣法序之奉爱之果。

Word by Word

• yaḥ: whoever

• paṭhet: recites

• chṛṇuyāt: hears/listens

• vā api: or even

• yuṣmābhiḥ: by you (all)

• kīrtitam: praised/proclaimed

• stavam: hymn

• śrāvayet: causes to be heard/recites for others

• vā: or

• dvijān: the twice-born (brāhmaṇas etc.)

• vipraḥ: a learned brāhmaṇa

• gāṇapatyam: Gaṇapati-hood/gaṇapatya rank or grace

• avāpnuyāt: would attain/obtain.

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating phala-śruti within the Purāṇic discourse)

Characters & Entities

• Gaṇapati
• Śiva

FAQs

What is the importance of this verse in the context of Linga worship?

It functions as a phala-śruti: it declares that śravaṇa (hearing) and pāṭha (recitation) of a sacred stava—supporting Śiva’s dharma—yields tangible spiritual merit, reinforcing the Linga Purāṇa theme that devotion and right ritual orientation loosen pāśa (bondage) for the paśu (soul) by the favor of Pati (the Lord).

How does this verse describe the nature of Shiva (Shiva-tattva)?

Indirectly, it presents Śiva-tattva as the sovereign order in which Gaṇapati’s grace operates: attaining “gāṇapatya” implies alignment with Śiva’s gaṇas and governance, showing that divine hierarchy and anugraha (grace) flow from the Lord’s transcendent authority.

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

The practice emphasized is śravaṇa and pāṭha of a stava, and śrāvaṇa-kriyā (making others hear it), a devotional discipline that supports mantra-bhakti and pūjā-vidhi within a Śaiva framework rather than a specific āsana-based yoga.