Shiva Purana — Kotirudra Samhita, Shloka 48
गौतमस्य शिवदर्शनं पापक्षयवचनं च | Gautama’s Vision of Śiva and the Teaching on Sin and Purification
कृत्वा स्वपापं निखिलं विमोक्ष्यामो न संशयः । स्वदेशांश्च गमिष्यामो भवच्छासनतो वयम्
kṛtvā svapāpaṃ nikhilaṃ vimokṣyāmo na saṃśayaḥ | svadeśāṃśca gamiṣyāmo bhavacchāsanato vayam
既已行此归依与顺从之举，我们必将解脱自身一切罪垢——毫无疑虑。并且遵从你的命令，我们将返回各自的国土。
Pilgrims/devotees addressing an authority figure in the Jyotirlinga narrative (as narrated by Suta Goswami)
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Paśupatinātha
Jyotirlinga: Tryambakeśvara
Sthala Purana: Devotees/pilgrims, led by the sage Gautama, submit to Śiva’s injunctions; by obedience and surrender they are freed from sins and permitted to return home, establishing the site’s fame as a remover of mahāpātakas.
Significance: Śiva’s ājñā-śaraṇāgati (obedient surrender) and tīrtha-sevā are framed as sin-destroying; returning ‘to one’s own land’ underscores completion of pilgrimage with Śiva’s sanction.
FAQs
The verse highlights a Shaiva Siddhanta theme: when a devotee accepts rightful instruction with humility and acts accordingly, the burden of pāpa (sin) is purified, enabling a return to dharmic life and progress toward liberation.
In Kotirudra contexts, purification is linked to approaching Shiva in a tangible, grace-giving form—especially the Jyotirlinga. Obedience to sacred injunctions (vrata, tīrtha, and ājñā) becomes an expression of devotion to Saguna Shiva who dispels impurities.
The practical takeaway is repentance followed by disciplined compliance with Shaiva injunctions—such as pilgrimage observances, japa of the Panchakshara (Om Namaḥ Śivāya), and maintaining purity through bhasma and Rudraksha where prescribed.