Shloka 40
Naimittika-pralaya and the Theology of Kāla: Seven Suns, Saṃvartaka Fire, Flood, and Varāha Kalpa
ततस्ते जलदा वर्षं मुञ्चन्तीह महौघवत् / सुघोरमशिवं सर्वं नाशयन्ति च पावकम्
tataste jaladā varṣaṃ muñcantīha mahaughavat / sughoramaśivaṃ sarvaṃ nāśayanti ca pāvakam
তারপর সেই জলদরা এখানে মহাপ্লাবনের মতো বৃষ্টি বর্ষণ করে। সেই অতিভয়ংকর, অশুভ ধারায় তারা সর্বনাশ ঘটায় এবং অগ্নিকেও নিভিয়ে দেয়।
Narrator (Purāṇic recitation tradition; likely Sūta reporting the account as part of the Kurma Purana’s cosmological narrative)
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: raudra
FAQs
By depicting even fire being extinguished in a cosmic calamity, the verse underscores the perishability of elemental forces; in Kurma Purana’s broader teaching, the Atman/Ishvara is that which remains untouched when all manifest supports (bhūtas) are dissolved.
No direct practice is prescribed in this verse; indirectly it supports vairāgya (dispassion) central to Kurma Purana’s yoga-ethic—seeing the instability of the world encourages steadiness in dhyāna and refuge in Ishvara beyond the elements.
The verse itself is cosmological rather than sectarian; in Kurma Purana’s synthesis, such dissolution imagery functions to point to one supreme Lord (Ishvara) beyond the elements—affirmed across Shaiva-Vaishnava language as the same ultimate reality.