Shloka 45

अध्याय ९६: शरभ-प्रादुर्भावः, नृसिंह-दर्पशमनम्, विष्णोः शिवस्तुतिः, फलश्रुति

Devanagari script

यदि सिंह महेशानं स्वपुनर्भूत मन्यसे न त्वं स्रष्टा न संहर्ता न स्वतन्त्रो हि कुत्रचित्

Transliteration

yadi siṃha maheśānaṃ svapunarbhūta manyase na tvaṃ sraṣṭā na saṃhartā na svatantro hi kutracit

Translation

若你，噫狮子，竟以为大自在天（Maheshāna）不过是随己意再度取身者，那么当知：你既非创造者，亦非毁灭者；你在任何处都毫无自主可言。

Word by Word

• yadi: if

• siṃha: O lion (address to the lion-like one)

• maheśānam: Maheshāna, the Great Lord (Shiva)

• sva: by oneself/His own

• punar-bhūtam: become again, re-manifested/embodied again

• manyase: you think/consider

• na tvam: not you

• sraṣṭā: creator

• na: not

• saṃhartā: destroyer

• svatantraḥ: independent, autonomous

• hi: indeed

• kutracit: anywhere, in any circumstance

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating a doctrinal passage on Shiva’s supremacy and the non-independence of beings)

Characters & Entities

• Shiva (Maheshana)

FAQs

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

It establishes Shiva (the Linga’s indwelling Lord) as the only truly sovereign Pati; worship corrects the soul’s error of imagining independent power and turns the Pashu toward surrender and grace.

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

Shiva is implied as Maheshāna—supreme, not bound by Pāśa, and the real ground of creation and dissolution; individual beings lack absolute agency and operate only within His order.

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

The key practice is relinquishing doership (ahaṅkāra) through Pashupata-oriented devotion—mental surrender, mantra-japa, and Linga-upāsanā—so the Pashu is freed from Pāśa by Pati’s grace.