The Greatness of the Shiva Purana

Shounaka said

Suta, wise lord, you know how every question is settled. Please tell me in particular the essence of all the Puranas. How do good conduct, devotion and discernment grow in oneself and in one's sons? What do good people do to clear away their own faults? In this terrible kali yuga nearly all beings take on the nature of asuras. What is the highest path that can heal them? What is the supreme goal that brings the best of the best? What is the purest means available now, and in particular what can purify the self quickly? Father, with a clear mind, how can one always reach Shiva?

Suta replied

Tiger among sages, you are fortunate to ask this with such eager love. I will think over the great and excellent sacred texts and tell you from my own understanding. This is the outcome of every kind of settled inquiry. It increases devotion, it is divine and it pleases Shiva. Listen to this medicine, excellent, which destroys the great fear that comes from the serpent called Kala. Sage, this is the supreme Shiva Purana, spoken by Shiva himself. The sage Sanatkumara taught it to Vyasa, who out of respect for him, and for the good of those born in kali yuga, abridged it. For purifying the minds of those born in the kali yuga, nothing else serves like the Shiva Purana. After gathering great merit in an earlier birth, a very fortunate and intelligent person comes to love it. This Shiva Purana is a supreme, excellent text. It should always be served on earth and known as Shiva's own form. An excellent man who reads it or hears it devoutly reaches Shiva at once, though that is something hard to reach by every other means. So people must make every effort to read this text. If one listens to it with love, every wish is granted as its fruit.

When a man hears Shambhu's Purana, he is washed of his sins, and after enjoying many pleasures he reaches Shiva's world. As soon as one hears Shambhu's account one gains the merit of a rajasuya sacrifice or a hundred agnishtomas. Sage, those who hear the excellent Shiva Purana should not be thought of as ordinary mortals; they are doubtless like forms of Rudra. The sages know that the dust from the lotus feet of those who hear and recite this Purana is like the dust of holy places. Embodied beings who wish to go to the supreme region should always listen devoutly to the faultless Shiva Purana. Best of sages, if someone cannot listen constantly, let him control himself and listen for one muhurta daily. If he cannot manage daily, let him listen in auspicious months. Those who listen for a muhurta, half a muhurta, a quarter of one or even a kshana do not suffer hardships. Lord of sages, a man who hears this Purana burns down the great forest of karma and crosses samsara. Merit comes from all gifts and sacrifices, but the lasting fruits come from hearing Shambhu's Purana. In kali yuga above all there is no greater dharma for people than hearing the Shiva Purana. It is the means to liberation. Without doubt, by properly hearing and reciting Shambhu's Purana, people gain what the wish-granting tree gives. In kali yuga there are evil-minded people, false in their selves, who do not follow dharma. The nectar called the Shambhu Purana is for their benefit. A man who drinks this amrita does not suffer old age and becomes immortal. The amrita of Shambhu's account also keeps the whole family from old age; they become immortal. It must always be served. It must always be served. Above all it must always be served. This account of the Shiva Purana becomes supremely purifying the instant one hears it. What can I say of the fruits gained by those who hold Shiva in their hearts?

The text has twenty-four thousand shlokas, divided into seven samhitas. Full of the three kinds of devotion, one must listen to it lovingly. The first is the Vidyeshvara Samhita, the second the Rudra Samhita, the third the Shata Rudra and the fourth the Koti Rudra. The fifth is the Uma Samhita, the sixth the Kailasa Samhita and the seventh the Vayaviya. These are the seven samhitas, and with them this divine text is called the Shiva Purana. It is equal to Brahma, it is supreme and gives every kind of aim. A person who lovingly reads the whole Shiva Purana with its seven samhitas is called jivanmukta, one freed while living. Until the excellent Shiva Purana reaches his ears, a person is ignorant and whirled about on earth. What is the use of hearing many texts and Puranas? They only confuse. The Shiva Purana declares that it alone can give liberation. Wherever the account of the Shiva Purana is heard in a house, that house becomes a holy place and the sins of all who live there are destroyed. A thousand horse sacrifices and a hundred vajapeyas do not amount to a sixteenth of what the Shiva Purana gives. Best of sages, a sinner remains a sinner only as long as he has not heard the Shiva Purana with great devotion. There are sacred rivers, the Ganga and others; there are seven cities, Gaya and others; none equals this Shiva Purana. One who wants the supreme goal should devoutly read with his own mouth one shloka, or half a shloka, of the Shiva Purana every day. If one understands the meaning and speaks of the Shiva Purana, or constantly reads it devoutly, doubtless one's self is auspicious. If an intelligent person listens to it devoutly at the time of death, Mahesha is delighted and gives him a place in his own abode. A person who lovingly worships the Shiva Purana every day enjoys everything he desires and afterward reaches a destination with Shiva. The Shiva Purana must always be carefully wrapped in a piece of linen cloth, and one who honours it so will always be happy. The faultless Shiva Purana is everything for one devoted to Shiva. One who wants happiness in this world and the next must make every effort to serve it lovingly. The supreme, faultless Shiva Purana gives the four aims of human life. It must always be heard, and in particular it must always be lovingly read. It is supreme among the Vedas, Itihasa and sacred texts and brings great good. Those who desire liberation must always seek to understand the Shiva Purana. For those who seek to know the self, this Shiva Purana is supreme. Among all supreme things, the virtuous must always serve and worship it. It calms the three kinds of hardship. It gives happiness and must always be loved more than one's own life. It pleases Brahma, Hari, Isha and the immortals. With every kind of happiness in my mind I worship the Shiva Purana. May Shiva be pleased with me and give me devotion at his own feet.