Shloka 1

Adhyaya 49: जम्बूद्वीप-मेर्वादि-वर्षपर्वत-वन-सरः-रुद्रक्षेत्र-वर्णनम्

Devanagari script

इति श्रीलिङ्गमहापुराणे पूर्वभागे ऽष्टचत्वारिंशो ऽध्यायः सूत उवाच शतमेकं सहस्राणां योजनानां स तु स्मृतः अनु द्वीपं सहस्राणां द्विगुणं द्विगुणोत्तरम्

Transliteration

iti śrīliṅgamahāpurāṇe pūrvabhāge 'ṣṭacatvāriṃśo 'dhyāyaḥ sūta uvāca śatamekaṃ sahasrāṇāṃ yojanānāṃ sa tu smṛtaḥ anu dvīpaṃ sahasrāṇāṃ dviguṇaṃ dviguṇottaram

Translation

如是，在《圣林伽摩诃往世书》前分中，苏多说道：“其量被忆持为十万一千由旬；而每一后续之洲（dvīpa），其度量递增——倍增，又复倍增，层层上升。”

Word by Word

• iti: thus

• śrī-liṅga-mahāpurāṇe: in the venerable Liṅga Mahāpurāṇa

• pūrvabhāge: in the former section

• 'dhyāyaḥ: chapter

• sūta uvāca: Sūta said

• śatam ekam: one hundred and one

• sahasrāṇām: of thousands

• yojanānām: of yojanas (a measure of distance)

• saḥ: that (measure)

• tu: indeed

• smṛtaḥ: is remembered/declared in tradition

• anu: successively/according to

• dvīpam: (each) island-continent

• sahasrāṇām: (in) thousands

• dviguṇam: doubled

• dviguṇa-uttaram: increasing by repeated doubling / higher by doubling.

Speaker

Suta Goswami

Characters & Entities

• Suta

FAQs

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

By giving measured, ordered cosmology, the verse frames the universe as a structured manifestation within Śiva’s governance (Pati). For Liṅga-worship, this supports the contemplative view that all realms and measures rest in Mahādeva, making pūjā both devotion and cosmic alignment.

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

Though Śiva is not named directly, the orderly doubling of realms implies a cosmos sustained by an intelligible, sovereign principle—Pati—who transcends measure yet allows measure to appear. In Śaiva Siddhānta terms, the measurable world belongs to pāśa (objective order), while Śiva-tattva remains the ultimate ground of that order.

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

No specific rite is prescribed; the takeaway is dhyāna rooted in cosmic vastness—using cosmological order as a support for śiva-smaraṇa (remembrance of Śiva) and for loosening pāśa through contemplative discernment of the seen (world-order) from the Seer (Pati).