Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 40
Yuga-Dharma: The Four Ages, Decline of Dharma, and the Rise of Social Order
तासां वृष्ट्यूदकानीह यानि निम्नैर्गतानि तु / अवहन् वृष्टिसंतत्या स्त्रोतः स्थानानि निम्नगाः
tāsāṃ vṛṣṭyūdakānīha yāni nimnairgatāni tu / avahan vṛṣṭisaṃtatyā strotaḥ sthānāni nimnagāḥ
هنا، إنّ مياهَ المطر في تلك النواحي، لما انحدرت إلى الأراضي المنخفضة، حملتها استمراريةُ الهطول المتتابع إلى الأمام؛ فاستقرّت المنخفضاتُ مجاريَ للأنهار وقنواتٍ للسيلان.
Suta (narrator) conveying the Purana’s account of ancient geography and hydrology
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
This verse is primarily cosmographic rather than directly metaphysical: it frames the world as an ordered manifestation where natural processes (rainfall, flow, channels) operate within dharma-governed creation—an implied backdrop for later teachings on the Self as the witness of all changing phenomena.
No explicit yoga practice is taught in this verse; however, Kurma Purana often uses such creation-descriptions to orient the seeker toward viveka (discernment) and reverence for tirthas—supportive conditions for mantra-japa, purification, and Pashupata-oriented discipline taught elsewhere.
The verse itself does not name Shiva or Vishnu; it contributes to the shared puranic worldview in which a single sacred order underlies nature—later articulated in the Kurma Purana through Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis, where cosmic functions are harmonized rather than opposed.