Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 17
Bhūrloka-Vyavasthā — The Seven Dvīpas, Seven Oceans, and the Meru-Centered Order of Jambūdvīpa
महागजप्रमाणानि जम्ब्वास्तस्याः फलानि च / पतन्ति भूभृतः पृष्ठे शीर्यमाणानि सर्वतः
mahāgajapramāṇāni jambvāstasyāḥ phalāni ca / patanti bhūbhṛtaḥ pṛṣṭhe śīryamāṇāni sarvataḥ
وأمّا ثمارُ شجرةِ الجامبو تلك—فكلُّ ثمرةٍ منها بقدرِ فيلٍ عظيم—فإنها تسقط من كلّ جهةٍ على ظهرِ الجبل، فتتهشّم وتتفتّت حين تصطدم بسطحه.
Sūta (narrator) recounting the Purāṇic cosmography to the sages
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: vira
FAQs
This verse is primarily cosmographical, yet it supports a Purāṇic insight: the vastness of creation—symbolized by elephant-sized fruits and mountains—points to an ordered, intelligible cosmos that later chapters relate back to the indwelling Lord/Ātman as its ground.
No direct yogic technique is taught in this verse; it belongs to sacred geography. In the Kurma Purana’s broader arc, such cosmic descriptions function as a contemplative support (dhyāna-upakaraṇa), expanding the mind from the local to the universal before the text’s explicit Yoga-śāstra teachings.
The verse itself does not mention Śiva or Viṣṇu; however, within the Kurma Purana’s Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis, cosmography is presented as part of a single divine order ultimately harmonized in the text’s non-sectarian theological vision.