कार्यं गुणावतारत्वेनैक्याद्रुद्रस्य वैष्णवैः ।
वैष्णवाग्र्यतया श्रेष्ठ्यात् सदाचाराच्च तद्व्रतम् ॥
kāryaṁ guṇāvatāratvenaikyād rudrasya vaiṣṇavaiḥ |
vaiṣṇavāgryatayā śreṣṭhyāt sadācārāc ca tad-vratam ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 14.195)
“This vrata [i.e., Śiva Rātri] is to be performed by Vaiṣṇavas (1) because of Rudra’s oneness [with Bhagavān Viṣṇu] on account of [his] being a guṇāvatāra [of Bhagavān Viṣṇu], (2) because of [his] superiority [to other devatās] on account of [his] being the foremost of Vaiṣṇavas, and (3) because of proper conduct [i.e., because it is considered proper conduct to do so since it is a great fault to not].”
Commentary
śrī-viṣṇur eko devaḥ śivaś cānyā deva ity evam anyatve bhāsamāne tan-namaskārādikaṁ vaiṣṇavānām ayuktam eva kintu yathā matsyādayo līlāvatārās tathā śrī-śivaś ca guṇāvatāro’yam ity abhedena na doṣāvaham api tu guṇa eva bhagavad-bhakti-viśeṣa eva paryavasānād iti |
(Excerpt from the Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā)
‘‘Śrī Viṣṇu is one deva, and Śiva is another deva’—when [in this way Śiva is] conceived as being distinct [from Śrī Viṣṇu], offering obeisances and so forth to him [i.e., Śiva] is verily inappropriate for Vaiṣṇavas, but with this [sense of] non-distinction, ‘Śrī Śiva is also a guṇāvatāra [of Śrī Viṣṇu] just as Matsya and others are līlāvatāras [of Śrī Viṣṇu],’ that [i.e., offering obeisances and so forth to Śiva] is not faulty, and, rather, [is] verily a quality because of [its] culminating specifically in a particular form of bhakti to Bhagavān.”