Auspicious at the beginning and at the end, with no equal ever born, the noble Lord, ageless and deathless, the God who is the Self; five-faced, whose play is the five mighty acts — on him, Śaṅkara, the Lord of Ambikā, I meditate in my heart.
This is the very first verse of the Śiva Purāṇa — the invocation that opens the Vidyeśvara Saṃhitā.
The “five acts” are creation, preservation, dissolution, concealment and grace. The Purāṇa begins by saying that all five are play to him.
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Original text
आद्यन्तमङ्गलमजातसमानभाव-
मार्यं तमीशमजरामरमात्मदेवम् ।
पञ्चाननं प्रबलपञ्चविनोदशीलं
सम्भावये मनसि शङ्करमम्बिकेशम् ॥
ādy-anta-maṅgalam ajāta-samāna-bhāvam
āryaṃ tam īśam ajarāmaram ātma-devam |
pañcānanaṃ prabala-pañca-vinoda-śīlaṃ
sambhāvaye manasi śaṅkaram ambikeśam ||
Translation
Auspicious at the beginning and at the end, with no equal ever born, the noble Lord, ageless and deathless, the God who is the Self; five-faced, whose play is the five mighty acts — on him, Śaṅkara, the Lord of Ambikā, I meditate in my heart.
Translation by: Om Namah Shivay
This passage is in our collection; editorial review is still pending.
Read the full explanation →The central Purāṇa of Śiva, in seven saṃhitās: Vidyeśvara, Rudra (in five khaṇḍas), Śatarudra, Koṭirudra, Umā, Kailāsa and Vāyavīya. Chapter numbers vary between editions; all our references follow the Gita Press Kalyāṇ Śivamahāpurāṇāṅka.
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