Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 32

Rudrakoṭi, Madhuvana, Puṣpanagarī, and Kālañjara — Śveta’s Bhakti and the Subjugation of Kāla

Devanagari script

नमो वृषध्वजाय ते कपालमालिने नमः / नमो महानटाय ते नमो वृषध्वजाय ते

Transliteration

namo vṛṣadhvajāya te kapālamāline namaḥ / namo mahānaṭāya te namo vṛṣadhvajāya te

Translation

السجود لكَ، يا صاحبَ رايةِ الثور (ڤرشَدْهڤَجَ). السجود لكَ، يا لابسَ إكليلِ الجماجم. السجود لكَ، يا الراقصَ العظيمَ الكونيّ. السجود لكَ مرةً أخرى، يا صاحبَ رايةِ الثور.

Word by Word

• namaḥ: salutation
• namaḥ: Sambodhana/Address (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: namas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Avyaya (अव्यय), salutation particle (नमस्कारार्थक-निपात)

• vṛṣa-dhvajāya: to the one whose banner is the bull
• vṛṣa-dhvajāya: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + dhvaja (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: vṛṣasya dhvajaḥ), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Dative (4th/चतुर्थी), Eka-vacana (एकवचन)

• te: to you
• te: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma (सर्वनाम), Dative (4th/चतुर्थी), Eka-vacana (एकवचन)

• kapāla-māline: to the garlanded-with-skulls one
• kapāla-māline: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kapāla (प्रातिपदिक) + mālin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: kapālaiḥ mālā yasya), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Dative (4th/चतुर्थी), Eka-vacana (एकवचन)

• namaḥ: salutation
• namaḥ: Sambodhana/Address (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: namas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Avyaya (अव्यय), salutation particle (नमस्कारार्थक-निपात)

• namaḥ: salutation
• namaḥ: Sambodhana/Address (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: namas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Avyaya (अव्यय), salutation particle (नमस्कारार्थक-निपात)

• mahā-naṭāya: to the great dancer
• mahā-naṭāya: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + naṭa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Karmadhāraya (विशेषण-विशेष्य: mahān naṭaḥ), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Dative (4th/चतुर्थी), Eka-vacana (एकवचन)

• te: to you
• te: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma (सर्वनाम), Dative (4th/चतुर्थी), Eka-vacana (एकवचन)

• namaḥ: salutation
• namaḥ: Sambodhana/Address (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: namas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Avyaya (अव्यय), salutation particle (नमस्कारार्थक-निपात)

• vṛṣa-dhvajāya: to the bull-bannered one
• vṛṣa-dhvajāya: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vṛṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + dhvaja (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Dative (4th/चतुर्थी), Eka-vacana (एकवचन)

• te: to you
• te: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma (सर्वनाम), Dative (4th/चतुर्थी), Eka-vacana (एकवचन)

Speaker

A devotee/narratorial voice offering a Rudra-stuti (hymn to Shiva) within the Kurma Purana’s teaching context

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: raudra

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Characters & Entities

• Shiva (Rudra)
• Vṛṣadhvaja (Bull-bannered Shiva)
• Mahānaṭa (Great Cosmic Dancer)

More Details (4 sections)

FAQs

How does this verse explain the nature of the Supreme Self (Atman)?

By praising Shiva through cosmic epithets (Bull-bannered, skull-garlanded, Great Dancer), the verse points to the Supreme as transcending ordinary purity/impurity and governing the cosmic order—an Ishvara who contains opposites and is worthy of single-pointed devotion.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

The verse models bhakti-yoga as mantra-like japa: repeated namas (salutations) used for ekāgratā (one-pointedness). In the Kurma Purana’s Pāśupata orientation, such stuti supports inner purification and steadiness that mature into meditation on Ishvara.

How does this verse depict the relationship between Shiva and Vishnu?

Within the Kurma Purana’s synthetic theology, hymns to Shiva function inside a Vaishnava frame (Kurma/Vishnu as revealer), implying non-contradiction: devotion to Shiva is a direct approach to the same Supreme Ishvara honored across Shaiva and Vaishnava idioms.