Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 6
प्रणवविभागः—वेदस्वरूपत्वं लिङ्गे च प्रतिष्ठा
The Division of Oṃ, Its Vedic Forms, and Its Placement in the Liṅga
विभावार्थं च तौ देवौ न किंचिदवजग्मतुः । वेदात्मना तदाव्यक्तः प्रणवो विकृतिं गतः
vibhāvārthaṃ ca tau devau na kiṃcidavajagmatuḥ | vedātmanā tadāvyaktaḥ praṇavo vikṛtiṃ gataḥ
即便那两位神祇，为了洞察并确证那真实，也丝毫不能把握。于是，那未显的 Praṇava——其本质即为吠陀——进入显现的变相之中，为使他们理解而自我显露。
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pati
Shiva Form: Sadāśiva
Sthala Purana: The motif of ‘two deities’ failing to comprehend recalls the liṅgodbhava paradigm (Brahmā and Viṣṇu unable to find the limits), here reframed as epistemic limitation before Praṇava’s unmanifest state.
Significance: Teaches humility of even high deities before the unmanifest; encourages reliance on revelation (Veda) and Śiva’s self-disclosure as grace.
Type: stotra
Role: teaching
FAQs
It teaches that even exalted cosmic powers cannot grasp the Supreme by mere conceptual search; the Reality (Pati) is ultimately revealed through divine grace as Praṇava (Oṃ), transitioning from the unmanifest to a knowable form.
Just as the Linga is the accessible sign of the transcendent Shiva, Praṇava (Oṃ) is the revealed, Veda-essence sound-form through which the unmanifest Supreme becomes approachable for devotion and contemplation.
Meditative japa and contemplation of Oṃ (Praṇava)—and, in Shaiva practice, its union with the Panchakshara as “Oṃ Namaḥ Śivāya”—is implied as a direct means to approach the unmanifest Shiva through a revealed mantra-form.