Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 17
Meru-Topography: Cities of Brahmā and the Dikpālas; Descent of Gaṅgā; Varṣa-Lotus and Boundary Mountains
तस्यास्तु पश्चिमे भागे निरृतेस्तु महात्मनः / रक्षोवती नाम पुरी राक्षसैः सर्वतो वृता
tasyāstu paścime bhāge nirṛtestu mahātmanaḥ / rakṣovatī nāma purī rākṣasaiḥ sarvato vṛtā
وعلى جانبها الغربي يقع مُلكُ نِرْرِتي العظيم؛ وفيه مدينة تُدعى «رَكْشَوَتِي»، محاطة من كل جهة بالرّاكشَسَة.
Primary narrator (Sūta) relaying the Purāṇic description as taught in the Kurma Purana’s geographic-cosmological section
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: raudra
FAQs
This verse is primarily geographic-cosmological, mapping directions and realms; it does not directly teach Ātman-doctrine, but it supports the Purāṇic view that the cosmos—including auspicious and inauspicious domains—falls within a single ordered reality.
No explicit yogic practice is taught in this line; its value is contextual—Kurma Purana later frames spiritual discipline (including Pāśupata-oriented devotion and yoga) against a cosmos populated by diverse beings and realms.
This verse does not mention Śiva or Viṣṇu directly; it belongs to the text’s broader integrative worldview where all directions, deities, and beings are situated within the same sacred cosmography that later accommodates Śaiva–Vaiṣṇava synthesis.