Linga Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 115

Adhyaya 70: आदिसर्गः—महत्-अहङ्कार-तन्मात्रा-भूतसृष्टिः, ब्रह्माण्डावरणम्, प्रजासर्गः, त्रिमूर्ति-शैवाधिष्ठानम्

Devanagari script

स्ंन्द्फ़्लुत् आपो ह्यग्रे समभवन् नष्टे च पृथिवीतले शान्ततारैकनीरे ऽस्मिन् न प्राज्ञायत किंचन

Transliteration

Sṃndflut āpo hyagre samabhavan naṣṭe ca pṛthivītale śāntatāraikanīre 'smin na prājñāyata kiṃcana

Translation

在最初之时，当大地表面已毁灭，唯有诸水存留，漫溢淹没一切。在那一片宁寂的独一水域中，丝毫万象皆不可辨识。

Word by Word

• saṃdiplutāḥ: completely flooded

• āpaḥ: waters

• hi: indeed

• agre: in the beginning

• samabhavan: came to be/appeared

• naṣṭe: when destroyed

• ca: and

• pṛthivī-tale: on the surface of the earth

• śānta: calm, stilled

• tāra-eka-nīre: in the one continuous mass of water (single watery expanse)

• asmin: in this

• na prājñāyata: was not known/was not perceived

• kiṃcana: anything at all

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 the pre-creation (pralaya-like) condition where no forms are perceptible—preparing the doctrine that the Linga signifies Shiva as the formless Pati, the ground from which manifestation arises and into which it resolves.

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

By depicting an undifferentiated, calm expanse where nothing is known, it points to Shiva-tattva as transcendent to names and forms—Pati who remains when pasha-bound phenomena dissolve, the silent substratum prior to cosmic differentiation.

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

The verse supports Pashupata-style inward contemplation: withdrawing from sensory distinctions to rest awareness in the undifferentiated source—useful as a dhyāna-bhāva before Linga-puja, emphasizing stillness (śānti) and dissolution of mental vṛttis.