11 -The superhuman magnificence of Shiva

Santakumara said:

1. O lord of the Ganas, O most excellent among those who know the greater and the inferior, O lord sanctified by the supreme lord Shiva, recount to me the superhuman excellences of Shiva and Shiva (Uma).

Nandikeshvara said:

2. O Sanatkumara, O leading yogin, O most excellent among the sons of Brahma, I shall recount the excellences of Shiva and Shiva, listen.

3. The supreme soul is spoken of as Shiva as well as Shiva. 105 These are the masculine and feminine forms of the one supreme Atman. Learned men call Shiva as Ishvara and Shiva as Maya.

105. sa cha, i.e. Shraddha, the first wife of Shiva.

4. The brahmins call Purusha as Shiva and Prakruti as Shiva. Shiva is the meaning and Shiva is the word denotative of the meaning. The eternal lord is the day and Shiva is the night.

5. The lord is the deity of sacrifice106 and his consort is Dakshina (gift of sacrifice). The lord is the firmament and his beloved is the earth.

106. saptatantu— yajnah, ST, a kind of sacrifice.

6. Lord Shiva is the ocean and Uma, the daughter of the chief of the mountains, is the sea-shore. The trident-armed lord is the tree and his beloved is the creeper.

7. The lord is Brahma and the goddess having half the body of the lord is Savitri. The lord is Vishnu and the great goddess is Lakshmi.

8. The lord is the thunderbolt-armed Indra and the daughter of the leading mountain is Shachi. The lord is the fire and the goddess having half the body of the lord is Svaha (wife of fire).

9. The lord is Yama and the daughter of the mountain is Yami. The lord is Varuna and his consort is Varunani the bestower of all objects.

10. The lord isVayu and the mistress of Vayu is Shiva. The lord with the semicircular moon for his crest is the king of Yakshas. Shiva herself is Ruddhi.

11. The crescent-crested lord is the moon and the beloved of the lord is Rohini. The lord is the sun and the goddess Uma is Suvarchala.

12. The destroyer of the three cities (puras)is the six-faced deity (Karttikeya) and his beloved is Devasena. Uma is prasuti while the lord is Daksha.

13. The lord is Manu called Purusha. His beloved is Shata rupa. They know Bhavani as Akuti and the lord as Ruchi.

14. The lord who plucked out the eyes of Bhaga is Bhrugu and the beloved of the three-eyed lord is Khyati. Lord Rudra is Marichi and the beloved of the lord is Sambhuti.

15. They know Bhavani as Ruchira and the lord as Kavi. 107 The lord is Angiras and Uma is Smruti.

107. Kavim — shukram ST, Venus.

16. The lord with the crescent moon at his crest is Pulasty a and the beloved of the Pinaka-bearing lord is Priti. The lord, the destroyer of the three cities (puras) is pulaha and the beloved of the slayer of Kala (i. e. Shiva) is Daya.

17. The destroyer of Daksh’s sacrifice is Kratu and the beloved of the lord is Sannati. The three-eyed lord is Atri and Uma herself as his consort Anasuya.

18. They call Uma as the elderly lady Urja and the lord as Vasishtha. All men are Shiva and all women are Shiva.

19. All those who are expressed by words in the masculine gender are forms of the lord. All those that are expressed by words in the feminine gender are the magnificences of Shiva.

20. All the women and men are their [Shiva’s and Uma’s] own excellences. Learned men know that all the Shaktis of the objects are Gauri.

21. She is the goddess of the universe and he is the overlord of all. All objects that are possessed of Shakti are parts of Maheshvara.

22. The eight Prakrutis are the physical forms of the goddess. The vikrutis are her Vibhutis in embodied forms.

23-24. Just as sparks come out of the fire so also the Jivas (individual souls) come out of the lord. Hence, the lord attains dual existence. The physical bodies of the embodied beings are the form of the goddess. All the embodied beings are stabilised as parts of the lord.

25. Everything audible is of the form of Uma and the hearer is the lord himself. The lord is the inherer of objects while Uma is the object herself.

26. The beloved wife of the lord holds all the objects to be created while the lord with the crescent moon on his crest, the soul of the universe is the creator.

27. The goddess of the world sustains the forms of subjects and objects while the seer is the moon-crescented lord.

28. All tastes and smells are the forms of Uma, while the lord of the worlds is the feeler of the taste and smell.

29. The great goddess Shiva assumes the form of every object worthy of being thought of, while the thinker is the lord, the soul of the universe and the great Ishvara.

30. The beloved of the lord sustains the form of objects worthy of being understood and the deity that understands is the same lord with the crescent moon for his crest jewel.

31. Goddess Uma has the form of the pedestal. Shiva has the form of Linga. After installing them assiduously Devas and Asuras worship them.

32. All the objects marked with the phallic symbol are the superhuman magnificences of the lord. All the objects marked by the symbol of the vaginal passage are the superhuman excellences of the goddess Uma.

33. The eight coverings of the Cosmic Egg ending with the upper and lower regions and all that is knowable are the forms of Uma while lord Maheshvara is the knower.

34. The goddess, the beloved of the slayer of the three cities (puras) is the field108 while the lord the slayer of Andhaka is the knower of the field. 109

35. If people forsake Linga and begin to worship other deities they will go to the Raurava hell along with the king, 110 their ruler.

108-109. The goddess is kshetra in the form of subtle body (linga- sharira) while the god is kshetrajna in the form of jiva.

110. Mark the sectarian character of this Purana.

36. If a king ceases to be a devotee of Shiva and becomes attached to other Devas, it is like the behaviour of a young woman who discarding her husband revels among her paramours.

37. Brahma and other Devas, the kings of great prosprity, the subjects as well as sages worship the Linga.

38. After killing Ravana111 the son of Brahma along with his army, the Linga was duly installed on the shore of the ocean by Vishnu.

111. Ravanam hatva — according toValmiki’s Ramayana, this Linga known as Rameshvara was installed by Rama at the time of constructing the bridge (setu-bandha-kale), and not after slaying R&vapa as mentioned here.

39. Even after committing thousands of sins and even after killing a hundred brahmins, if one resorts to lord Shiva with full devotion he is undoubtedly liberated.

40. All the worlds are full of Lingas. They are founded on the Linga. Hence, one should worship the Linga if one wishes for eternal region.

41. Shiva and Shiva are stationed in the shapes of all beings. They hould be worshipped by men for their own welfare. They should always be bowed to and contemplated upon.