Linga Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 160

Adhyaya 72 — Puradāha: Rudra’s Cosmic Chariot, Pāśupata-Vrata, and Brahmā’s Shiva-Stuti

Devanagari script

वेदान्तवेद्याय सुनिर्मलाय वेदार्थविद्भिः सततं स्तुताय वेदात्मरूपाय भवाय तुभ्यम् अन्ताय मध्याय सुमध्यमाय

Transliteration

vedāntavedyāya sunirmalāya vedārthavidbhiḥ satataṃ stutāya vedātmarūpāya bhavāya tubhyam antāya madhyāya sumadhyamāya

Translation

敬礼于您，婆婆（Bhava）——为吠檀多所证知，至净无垢，常为通达吠陀义理者所赞颂；敬礼于您，您的自性即是吠陀——您是终、是中，亦是一切之中最微妙的内核。

Word by Word

• वेदान्त-वेद्याय: to the One knowable through Vedānta

• सुनिर्मलाय: to the perfectly pure/stainless One

• वेद-अर्थ-विद्भिः: by knowers of the Veda’s meaning

• सततम्: always

• स्तुताय: praised

• वेद-आत्म-रूपाय: whose essential form is the Veda

• भवाय: to Bhava (Shiva as the Lord of becoming/existence)

• तुभ्यम्: to You

• अन्ताय: as the end/ultimate cessation

• मध्याय: as the middle/inner ground

• सु-मध्यमाय: to the supremely subtle central essence (the innermost core).

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating a Shaiva hymn within the Purva-Bhaga context)

Characters & Entities

• Shiva

FAQs

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

It frames Shiva (the Linga’s referent) as the Vedānta-known Absolute—pure, all-pervading, and the inner core of all—so Linga-puja becomes contemplation of Pati who transcends pasha and grants the pashu its return to purity.

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

Shiva is presented as Vedānta’s object of realization, the stainless Pati, identical with the Veda’s essence, and simultaneously the end (anta), the middle (madhya), and the subtlest interior reality—implying immanence and transcendence in one Shiva-tattva.

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

The verse primarily highlights jñāna-yoga/vedāntic contemplation within a Shaiva frame—meditating on Shiva as the inner core (madhya) and final end (anta); in puja, this aligns with mantra-japa and dhyāna on the Linga as the pure Pati.