Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 6
Bhūrloka-Vyavasthā — The Seven Dvīpas, Seven Oceans, and the Meru-Centered Order of Jambūdvīpa
जम्बूद्वीपः समस्तानां द्वीपानां मध्यतः शुभः / तस्य मध्ये महामेरुर्विश्रुतः कनकप्रभः
jambūdvīpaḥ samastānāṃ dvīpānāṃ madhyataḥ śubhaḥ / tasya madhye mahāmerurviśrutaḥ kanakaprabhaḥ
وجمبودفيبا المباركة تقع في قلب القارات جميعًا؛ وفي وسطها يقوم جبل ميرو العظيم، ذائع الصيت، متلألئًا ببريقٍ ذهبيّ.
Sūta (narrating the Purāṇic cosmography as taught in the Kurma Purana tradition)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
Indirectly: by placing Meru at the center of Jambūdvīpa, the verse uses sacred geography to suggest an ordered cosmos with a central axis—an outer reflection of the inner search for the spiritual “center” (ātman) taught elsewhere in the Kurma Purana.
No specific practice is prescribed in this verse; it provides cosmographic orientation. In Kurma Purana’s broader teaching, such mapping supports dhyāna by establishing sacred space and a sense of cosmic order that complements disciplines like Pāśupata-oriented devotion and contemplative steadiness.
It does not explicitly mention Śiva or Viṣṇu; however, Kurma Purana commonly frames cosmology within a harmonized Śaiva–Vaiṣṇava worldview, where the ordered universe is upheld by the single supreme principle revered through both traditions.