Śivapurāṇa (शिवपुराण) according to the Śivapurāṇa-māhātmya.—“merely by listening to Śivapurāṇa (if such good results) what am I to say about the result when Śiva abides in the heart?. This work consists of twenty-four thousand verses divided into seven saṃhitās (compendiums). The three kinds of Devotion [(1) by meditation, (2) recital of prayer and (3) acts of worship and service] are fully explained in it. It must be listened to with great respect”.
There are seven saṃhitās defined for the Śivapurāṇa:
- Vidyeśvara-saṃhitā,
- Rudra-saṃhitā,
- Śatarudra-saṃhitā,
- Koṭirudra-saṃhitā,
- Umā-saṃhitā,
- Kailāsa-saṃhitā,
- Vāyavīya-saṃhitā.
Accordingly, “this divine Purāṇa of seven saṃhitās and called after Śiva stands on an equal footing with Brahman (i.e. Vedic Texts) and accords an achievement that is superior to everything else. He who reads the entire Śivapurāṇa without omitting any of the seven saṃhitās can be called a Jīvanmukta (a living liberated soul)”.
According to the Śivapurāṇa 1.2, originally the Śivapurāṇa was of very enormous size consisting of twelve sacred saṃhitās:—
- Vidyeśvara-saṃhitā,
- Rudra-saṃhitā,
- Vaināyaka-saṃhitā,
- Aumika-saṃhitā,
- Mātṛ-saṃhitā,
- Rudraikādaśa-saṃhitā,
- Kailāsa-saṃhitā,
- Śatarudraka-saṃhitā,
- Sahasrakoṭirudra-saṃhitā,
- Koṭirudra-saṃhitā,
- Vāyavīya-saṃhitā,
- Dharmasaṃjña-saṃhitā.
In the most ancient Śivapurāṇa, the first Saṃhitā of Vidyeśvara, consisted of ten thousand verses. 10,000
The Raudra, Vaināyaka, Aumika and Mātṛ-saṃhitās consisted of eight thousand verses each. 32,000
The Rudraikādasa-saṃhitā consisted of thirteen thousand verses; 13,000
the Kailāsa-saṃhitā of six thousand verses and the Śatarudra of three thousand verses. 3000
The Koṭirudra-saṃhitā consisted of nine thousand verses; 9,000
The Sahasrakoṭi-rudra-saṃhitā of eleven thousand verses. 11,000
The Vāyavīya-saṃhitā consisted of 4000 verses 4,000
The Dharma-saṃhitā of twelve thousand verses. 12,000
Thus the whole Śivapurāṇa contained a hundred thousand verses. ∑ 100,000
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