The greatness of Śiva liṅga
Sūta said:
蘇塔說
1. A person incompetent to perform the three rites of Śravaṇa etc. shall fix the liṅga emblem or the image of Śiva and worship them every day. He can thus cross the ocean of worldly existence.
個人無能力修習聽聞等三個法門的話，應當修建靈伽（liṅga）象徵或溼婆神像每天進行崇拜。這樣，他就能跨越世俗存在之海。
2. As far as he can afford, the devotee shall make gifts of wealth too without deceiving others. He shall offer them to the liṅga or the image of Śiva. He must worship them constantly.
信徒在力所能及的範圍內，在不欺騙他人情況下奉獻財富，他將財富供奉給溼婆靈伽或神像，他必須時時崇拜祂們（指溼婆靈伽和神像）。
3-7. The worship must be performed elaborately. Construction of platforms, ornamental portals, monasteries, temples, holy centres, etc., offerings of cloth, scents, garlands,incense, lamps, with due piety; oblations of various cooked rice, pancakes, pies etc. with side dishes; umbrellas, fans, chowries with all paraphernalia—everything shall be maintained in the worship of Śiva. In fact, all royal homage shall be paid. Circumambulation and obeisance with Japas according to capacity shall be performed. All the different usual rites in worships like invocation shall be maintained with due devotion. A person who worships the liṅga or the image in this manner will attain salvation even without Śravaṇa etc. Many noble men of yore have been uberated solely by this simple worship.
崇拜必須精心進行，搭建平臺、裝飾門樓、修道院、寺廟、神聖中心等，以應有虔誠供奉布匹、芳香、花環、薰香、香火；供奉各種米飯、薄餅、餡餅等連同配菜；華蓋、扇子、拂塵與所有用具都應用於溼婆崇拜。事實上，應該致以一切高貴敬意，應該依能力持咒繞行敬禮。在崇拜中，一切不同常規儀式（比如祈禱）將保持應有虔誠。個人崇拜靈伽或神像，以此獲得救贖，即使他沒有修習聽聞等法門，從前許多高貴人士皆被這種簡單的崇拜所吸引。
8. Everywhere the deities are worshipped only in their image. How is it that Śiva is worshipped both in the image and the liṅga?
每個地方，人們都只崇拜神明的神像，爲什麼溼婆要崇拜神像和靈伽兩者？
Sūta said:
蘇塔說：
9. O sages, this question is holy and wondrous. Here the speaker is Śiva Himself and not any ordinary person.
聖人啊，這個問題是神聖而奇妙的，在此說者是溼婆本尊而非任何普通人。
10. I shall tell you what Śiva Himself had said and what I heard from my own preceptor. Śiva alone is glorified as Niṣkala (nameless and formless) since He is identical with supreme Brahman.
我將告訴你溼婆親自說了什麼，以及我從我導師那裏聽到了什麼。溼婆本身就是無名無形（Niṣkala）的榮耀，因爲他與至上梵是相同的。
11. He is also Sakala as He has an embodied form. He is both Sakala and Niṣkala. It is in his Niṣkala aspect that the Liṅga① is appropriate.
他也是有形的（ Sakala），因爲他有一個具身形式。他既是有形的又是無名無形的，用靈伽（象徵）他的無形方面是恰當的。
12-13. In the Sakala aspect the worship of his embodied form is appropriate. Since He has the Sakala and Niṣkala aspects He is worshipped both in the Liṅga and in the embodied form by the people and is called the highest Brahman. Other deities, not being Brahman, have no Niṣkala aspect anywhere.
在有形方面，對他具身形式的崇拜是恰當的。因爲他具有有形和無名無形方面，故他被人們同時以靈伽和具身形式來崇拜，並被稱爲至上梵。其他神祗並非梵，不具有任何無名無形方面。
14. Hence the deities are not worshipped in the formless Liṅga symbol. The other deities are both non-Brahman and individual souls.
因此，神祗不被崇拜於無形的靈伽象徵中，其他神祗皆非梵，是個體靈魂。
15. In view of their being embodied alone they are worshipped solely in the bodily form. Śaṅkara has Brahmatva and the others Jīvatva.
由於他們是單獨的具身，所以他們僅以身體形式被崇拜。商羯羅（Śaṅkara）具有至上梵神格（Brahmatva），其他（神祗）具有人格（Jīvatva）。
16. This has been explained in the meaning of the Praṇava (Om),the essence of Vedānta, by Nandikeśvara②when asked by Sanatkumāra, the intelligent son of Brahmā, at the mountain Mandara.
當南迪科斯瓦拉（Nandikeśvara）②在曼達拉山被薩拉特庫馬拉（Sanatkumāra，梵天聰明的兒子）請教時，他在詮釋OM（Praṇava）的含義——吠檀多的本質中已進行了解釋。
Sanatkumāra said:
薩拉特庫馬拉說：
17-18. The embodied form alone is often observed in the worship of the deities other than Śiva. But both the Liṅga and the embodied forms are seen only in the worship of Śiva. Hence O benevolent one, please tell me precisely making me understand the truth.
具身形式通常只見於溼婆以外的其他神祗的崇拜中，而靈伽和具身形式只見於溼婆崇拜中。因此，仁慈者，請準確地告訴我，讓我參透其中真相。
Nandikeśvara said:
南迪科斯瓦拉說：
19. It is impossible to answer this question without revealing the secret of Brahman.
這個問題若不揭示梵之祕密的話，就不可能回答。
20-24. O sinless one, since you are pious I shall tell you what Śiva Himself has said. Since Śiva has the bodiless aspect in virtue of His being the supreme Brahman, the Niṣkala liṅga, in conformity with the Vedic implication, is used only in His worship. Since He has an embodied form as well, His embodied form is also worshipped and accepted by all people. According to the decision in the Vedas, the embodied form alone is to be used in the worship of other deities who are only individual souls embodied. Devas have only the embodied aspect in their manifestation. In sacred literature both the Liṅga and the embodied forms are mentioned for Śiva.
無罪者啊，因爲你是虔誠的，我將告訴你溼婆親口所言。溼婆由於是至上梵，從而具有無形的方面，無形的靈伽（Niṣkala liṅga）符合吠陀意蘊，僅被用於溼婆崇拜中。由於溼婆也具有具身形式，他的具身形式也被所有人崇拜和接受。根據《吠陀經》的決定，只有具身形式被用於其他神祗崇拜中，他們只是具身的個體靈魂。天神們在顯化中僅有具身方面，關於溼婆在聖典中提到具有靈伽和具身兩種形式。
Sanatkumāra said:
薩拉特庫馬拉說：
25. O Fortunate one, you have explained the worship of liṅga and image distinctly for Śiva and the other deities. Hence, O lord of Yogins, I wish to hear the feature of the manifestation of the liṅga aspect of Śiva.
幸運者啊，您已經清楚解釋了溼婆和其他神祗的靈伽和神像崇拜，因此，瑜伽士之主啊，我想聽聞溼婆靈伽方面的表現特徵。
Nandikeśvara said:
南迪科斯瓦拉說：
26-27. O dear one, out of love for you I shall tell you the truth. Long long ago, in the famous first Kalpa, ③ the noble souls Brahmā and Viṣṇu fought each other.
哦，親愛的，出於對你的愛，我將告訴你真相。很久以前，在著名的第一劫③時，高貴的靈魂梵天和毗溼奴互相爭鬥。
28. In order to eradicate their arrogance lord Parameśvara showed his unembodied Niṣkala form in the form of a column in their midst.
爲了消除他們的自大，至上主（Parameśvara）在他們中間顯現爲光柱形的非具身無形的形式。
29. He showed his liṅga emblem separate, evolved out of the column, with a desire to bless the worlds.
他顯現了靈伽的獨立象徵，即由光柱演化而來，帶着祝福世界的願望。
30. From that time onwards the divine liṅga and the embodied image, both, were assigned to Śiva alone.
從那時起神聖靈伽和具身形式兩者只適用於溼婆。
31. The embodied form alone was assigned to deities other than Śiva. The different types of the embodied forms of the different Devas yield only enjoyments. In regard to Śiva the liṅga emblem and the embodied form together bestow auspicious enjoyment and salvation.
而溼婆以外的其他神祗只適用於具身形式，不同天神的不同類型具身形式只產生享樂，而溼婆靈伽象徵連同具身形式賜予吉祥享樂和救贖。
① Śiva-liṅga: the liṅga emblem of Śiva which is universally worshipped.
溼婆靈伽：是被普遍崇拜的溼婆的靈伽象徵。
② Nandikeśvara: One of the attendants of Śiva
南迪科斯瓦拉：溼婆的隨從之一。
③ The term Kalpa in a precise sense means a vast cosmic period but this seems to have been a later application of it, when the scheme of cosmological time was developed. It is often used in a simpler and unspecialized way to mean ‘aperiod of time’, ‘an age.’ This seems to have been its earlier signification, as where it is said ‘Purā Kalpe, mahākāle’ in old time, long, long ago. In such texts Purākalpa is often used loosely and has the general sense of ‘Old time’.
術語“一劫”（Kalpa）確切地說指一個浩瀚的宇宙週期，但這似乎是它後來的應用，在宇宙時間架構被髮展以後。它通常以一種更簡單和非專門化的方式來表示“一段時間”、“一個時代”。這似乎是其先前的意義，那時稱爲Purā Kalpe, mahākāle，即在往昔，很久很久以前。在這類經文中，Purākalpa常被泛泛使用，具有“往昔”的一般含義。