Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 15
Prākṛta-pralaya, Pratisarga Doctrine, and the Ishvara-Samanvaya of Yoga and Devotion
स वारितत्त्वं सगुणं ग्रसते हव्यवाहनः / तेजस्तु गुणसंयुक्तं वायौ संयाति संक्षयम्
sa vāritattvaṃ saguṇaṃ grasate havyavāhanaḥ / tejastu guṇasaṃyuktaṃ vāyau saṃyāti saṃkṣayam
ثمّ إنّ النار—هَفْيَفاهانا—تبتلع مبدأ الماء مع صفاته؛ والنارُ نفسها، وهي بعدُ مقترنة بصفاتها، تمضي إلى الفناء حين تندمج في الريح.
Narratorial exposition within the Purāṇic teaching (elemental dissolution section; traditionally delivered as part of the sage-to-sage narration framework of the Kurma Purana)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
By describing how even the subtle elements (water, fire, wind) and their guṇas are re-absorbed, the verse implies that the true Self is not any element or quality; it is the witness beyond guṇa and tattva, untouched by dissolution.
The verse aligns with bhūta-saṃhāra (inner re-absorption of elements) used in Śaiva-Pāśupata and allied yogic contemplations: the practitioner mentally dissolves gross into subtle—water into fire, fire into wind—moving toward guṇa-transcendence and steadiness in the inner witness.
Though Shiva and Vishnu are not named here, the teaching reflects the Kurma Purana’s shared metaphysical ground: one supreme reality teaches a common yogic-cosmological process where all tattvas and guṇas return to their source, supporting a non-sectarian (Śaiva–Vaiṣṇava) synthesis.