Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 9
Sapta-dvīpa Cosmography and the Vision of Śvetadvīpa–Vaikuṇṭha
आर्यकाः कुरवाश्चैव विदशा भाविनस्तथा / ब्रह्मक्षत्रियविट्शूद्रास्तस्मिन् द्वीपे प्रकीर्तिताः
āryakāḥ kuravāścaiva vidaśā bhāvinastathā / brahmakṣatriyaviṭśūdrāstasmin dvīpe prakīrtitāḥ
সেই দ্বীপত আৰ্যক, কুৰৱ, বিদশ আৰু ভাবিন লোকসকল বাস কৰে বুলি কীৰ্তিত; আৰু তাত ব্ৰাহ্মণ, ক্ষত্ৰিয়, বৈশ্য, শূদ্ৰ—এই চাৰ বৰ্ণো পৰম্পৰাৰে গণ্য।
Sūta (narrating the Purāṇic account as received from the sages, within the Kurma Purana’s descriptive discourse)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: vira
FAQs
This verse does not directly teach Ātman-doctrine; it situates human communities and the four varṇas within a dvīpa, implying that spiritual pursuit and dharma unfold within an ordered social and geographic cosmos.
No specific yoga practice is taught in this verse; its contribution is contextual—by naming varṇas, it frames the dharmic setting in which disciplines like Pāśupata-oriented devotion, japa, vrata, and meditation are later prescribed in the Kurma Purana.
It does not explicitly address Śiva–Viṣṇu unity; it belongs to the Purāṇic geography section that provides the cosmological backdrop for the Kurma Purana’s later integrative teachings where devotion and dharma are harmonized across traditions.