Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 21
Tīrtha-Māhātmya and the Discipline of Pilgrimage (Tīrtha-sevā) within Prāyaścitta
प्रायश्चित्ती च विधुरस्तथा पापचरो गृही / प्रकुर्यात् तीर्थसंसेवां ये चान्ये तादृशा जनाः
prāyaścittī ca vidhurastathā pāpacaro gṛhī / prakuryāt tīrthasaṃsevāṃ ye cānye tādṛśā janāḥ
مَن يُقيمُ البراياشِتّا (طقوسَ الكفّارة)، والأرملُ، بل وربُّ البيتِ الذي سقط في سلوكٍ آثم—هؤلاء ومَن كان على شاكلتهم—ينبغي لهم أن يلازموا الخدمةَ التعبّدية وأن يقصدوا التيِرثاتِ المقدّسة للتطهّر.
Traditional narration (Purāṇic narrator addressing the listener; contextual teaching aligned with Kurma’s dharma-instruction)
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
Indirectly: it frames purification (śuddhi) through tīrtha-sevā as a preparatory discipline, making the mind fit for higher knowledge of the Self taught elsewhere in the Kurma Purana.
The verse emphasizes karmic and ethical preparation—prāyaścitta and tīrtha-sevā—which function as outer disciplines that support inner Yoga (restraint, purity, and steadiness) in the Kurma Purana’s broader soteriology.
It does not name Śiva or Viṣṇu explicitly; instead it presents a shared Purāṇic dharma framework where purification through tīrthas supports devotion and liberation, consistent with the text’s Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis.