Devadāru (Dāruvana) Forest: The Delusion of Ritual Pride, the Liṅga Crisis, and the Teaching of Jñāna–Pāśupata Yoga
अस्या महत्परमेष्ठी परस्ता- न्महेश्वरः शिव एको ऽथ रुद्रः / चकार विश्वं परशक्तिनिष्ठां मायामथारुह्य स देवदेवः
asyā mahatparameṣṭhī parastā- nmaheśvaraḥ śiva eko 'tha rudraḥ / cakāra viśvaṃ paraśaktiniṣṭhāṃ māyāmathāruhya sa devadevaḥ
وفوقَ المَهَت، وفوقَ الباراميشْثِن، يقومُ الماهيشڤرا الواحد—شِڤا، أي رودرا. ذلك إلهُ الآلهةِ ركبَ المايا القائمةَ في البارا-شَكتي، فأظهرَ الكونَ إلى الوجود.
Lord Kūrma (Viṣṇu) instructing the sages/Indradyumna in the Upari-bhāga’s Śaiva-Vaiṣṇava synthesis
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: vira
It presents Maheśvara (Śiva/Rudra) as transcending even mahat (cosmic intellect) and the creator-function, implying an ultimate Lord/Reality beyond all tattvas—source and overseer of manifestation.
The verse supports Pāśupata-style contemplation of Īśvara as the transcendent cause: meditation on the Lord as beyond prakṛti’s evolutes (like mahat) while recognizing Māyā/Śakti as the operative power through which the cosmos appears.
Within the Kūrma Purāṇa’s harmonizing frame, the teaching voiced in a Vaiṣṇava setting affirms Śiva/Rudra as the supreme creative Lord, reflecting a non-sectarian synthesis where the highest Īśvara is praised across Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava idioms.