Linga Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 71

Adhyaya 40: Kali-yuga Lakshana, Yuga-sandhyamsha, and the Re-emergence of Dharma

Devanagari script

वर्णाश्रमपरिभ्रष्टाः संकटं घोरमास्थिताः एवं कष्टमनुप्राप्ता अल्पशेषाः प्रजास्तदा

Transliteration

varṇāśramaparibhraṣṭāḥ saṃkaṭaṃ ghoramāsthitāḥ evaṃ kaṣṭamanuprāptā alpaśeṣāḥ prajāstadā

Translation

他们背离了种姓与住期（varṇa、āśrama）的戒律，众人陷入可怖的灾厄。如此为苦所逼，当时众生数目锐减——仅余少许残存。

Word by Word

• वर्णाश्रम (varṇāśrama): the ordered disciplines of social-spiritual life

• परिभ्रष्टाः (paribhraṣṭāḥ): fallen away, deviated

• संकटम् (saṅkaṭam): calamity, distress

• घोरम् (ghoram): dreadful, terrifying

• आस्थिताः (āsthitāḥ): having entered, having come to

• एवम् (evam): thus

• कष्टम् (kaṣṭam): hardship, suffering

• अनुप्राप्ताः (anuprāptāḥ): having attained, having undergone

• अल्पशेषाः (alpaśeṣāḥ): with only a small remainder left

• प्रजाः (prajāḥ): creatures, people, subjects

• तदा (tadā): then, at that time

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating to the sages of Naimisharanya)

FAQs

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

It frames calamity as a result of dharmic deviation (pāśa strengthening); Linga-worship is implied as a restoring axis of dharma—turning the pashu back toward Pati (Shiva) through devotion and right conduct.

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

By implication, Shiva-tattva stands as Pati—the stabilizing, dharma-restoring Lord—while suffering and social collapse reflect the pashu’s entanglement in pāśa when divine-centered order is abandoned.

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

No single rite is named, but the takeaway is dharma-sādhana: disciplined living aligned with varṇa-āśrama and Shaiva devotion—foundational to Pashupata-oriented purification that loosens pāśa (bondage).