Shiva Purana — Rudra Samhita, Shloka 19
शिवतत्त्ववर्णनम् (Śiva-tattva-varṇana) — “Description/Exposition of the Principle of Śiva”
पार्थिवीं चैव मन्मूर्तिं विधाय कुरुतं युवाम् । सेवां च विविधां प्राज्ञौ कृत्वा सुखमवाप्स्यथ
pārthivīṃ caiva manmūrtiṃ vidhāya kurutaṃ yuvām | sevāṃ ca vividhāṃ prājñau kṛtvā sukhamavāpsyatha
你们当以泥土塑成一尊土制圣相，作为我形体的象征；你们二位智者当以种种奉事与供养侍奉它。如此行持，必得安乐与吉祥。
Lord Shiva (instructing on worship during the creation narrative)
Tattva Level: pati
Sthala Purana: Not a specific Jyotirliṅga episode; Śiva instructs primordial worship via a fashioned emblem (mūrti/liṅga) as a universally applicable upāsanā during the creation narrative.
Significance: Establishes the Śaiva Siddhānta principle that accessible, saguna worship (kriyā) to Śiva’s emblem purifies the paśu and becomes a means for Śiva’s anugraha (grace) culminating in auspicious well-being (sukha).
Offering: pushpa
Cosmic Event: Cosmogonic instruction within sṛṣṭi-kathā (creation narrative).
FAQs
It teaches that sincere bhakti expressed through service to Shiva’s accessible form (a simple earthen emblem) grants auspicious inner joy and spiritual upliftment—showing that grace depends on devotion, not luxury.
The verse directly supports saguna-upāsanā by instructing devotees to create an earthen representation of Shiva for worship—an entry point to realizing the supreme Pati (Shiva) through a tangible focus like the liṅga/emblem.
Make a clean earthen Shiva emblem and offer varied seva—such as water abhiṣeka, flowers, lamps, and mantra-japa (e.g., pañcākṣarī “Om Namaḥ Śivāya”)—with steady devotion.