Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 15
Lineage of Vyāsas, Division of the Veda, and Vāsudeva/Īśāna as the Veda-Known Supreme
एक आसीद्यजुर्वेदस्तं चतुर्धा व्यकल्पयत् / चातुर्हेत्रमभूद् यस्मिंस्तेन यज्ञमथाकरोत्
eka āsīdyajurvedastaṃ caturdhā vyakalpayat / cāturhetramabhūd yasmiṃstena yajñamathākarot
كان اليَجورفيدا (Yajurveda) في الأصل كتاباً واحداً، ثم نُظِّم إلى أربعة أقسام. ومن ذلك التنظيم نشأ نظامُ الكهنة الأربعة (cāturhotra)، وبه أُقيمت شعائرُ اليَجْنَة (yajña) على وجهها الصحيح.
Purāṇic narrator (traditional Vyāsa-sūta style), describing Vedic-ritual organization
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
Indirectly: it presents dharma through Vedic order—revealed knowledge structured for right action (yajña). In the Kurma Purana’s larger synthesis, such ordered karma becomes a support for inner purification that culminates in Self-knowledge (ātma-jñāna), though this particular verse focuses on the external framework.
No explicit yogic technique is taught in this verse; it emphasizes the disciplined performance of yajña via the cāturhotra system. In Kurma Purana’s broader teaching, this kind of regulated karma functions as a preparatory limb—stabilizing conduct and mind—before the more explicit Pāśupata-yoga and contemplative instructions found later (notably in the Upari-bhāga’s Ishvara Gītā context).
It does not name Śiva or Viṣṇu directly; it highlights Vedic yajña as a shared dharmic ground. In the Kurma Purana’s Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis, such Vedic foundations are honored as common authority, with devotion and liberation-oriented yoga later harmonized under one supreme principle.