Śiva Purāṇa Vidyeśvara-saṁhitā 4—Excellence of the Means
Channel: Consciousness Research Centre
Date: 2022-09-17

The sages said, “O holy one, what is śravana? How is kīrtana performed? What is manana? Please expound these precisely.”
Brahmā said: “O wise men, the means of śravana (hearing), famous in the world, is listening to words concerning Śiva, in whatever manner, howsoever and wherever they are produced, with the same steady attention as in the sporting dalliance with women. By kīrtana (glorification) is meant the clear expression of Śiva’s exploits, attributes, forms, sports, names etc. in good taste by reciting traditional lore and singing songs of praise, in Sanskrit or even in one’s mother tongue. Regarding manana (deliberation), the mind is fond of reasoning and deliberation. The ability of the mind to ponder and evaluate the efficacy of the worship, mantra-japa, the attributes of Īśa, His form, His divine sports and multifarious names, is the result of the benign glance of Īśvara. Hence steady continuation of deliberation is the most important of all the means.” 

This series is also available in podcast format at these links:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shiva-purana/id1644819918
https://open.spotify.com/show/62vkJe2YRw8GGtjBtjyXCL
https://anchor.fm/s/b72cb8b8/podcast/rss

Download Śiva Purāṇa:
https://archive.org/download/siva-purana-part-1/Siva%20Purana%20Part%201.pdf
https://archive.org/download/siva-purana-part-2/Siva%20Purana%20Part%202.pdf
https://archive.org/download/siva-purana-part-3/Siva%20Purana%20Part%203.pdf
https://archive.org/download/siva-purana-part-4/Siva%20Purana%20Part%204.pdf

The same translation is available online here:
https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/shiva-purana-english