Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 18
Prākṛta-pralaya, Pratisarga Doctrine, and the Ishvara-Samanvaya of Yoga and Devotion
वैकारिकस्तैजसश्च भूतादिश्चेति सत्तमाः / त्रिविधो ऽयमहङ्कारो महति प्रलंय व्रजेत्
vaikārikastaijasaśca bhūtādiśceti sattamāḥ / trividho 'yamahaṅkāro mahati pralaṃya vrajet
হে সত্তম, এই অহংকার ত্রিবিধ—বৈকারিক (সাত্ত্বিক), তৈজস (রাজস) ও ভূতাদি (তামস)। প্রলয়ে তা মহৎ-তত্ত্বে লীন হয়ে তাতেই প্রত্যাবর্তন করে।
Lord Kūrma (Vishnu) teaching cosmology in a Sāṅkhya-Yoga framework
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
It maps the dissolving of cosmic principles: ego (ahaṅkāra) resolves into Mahat at pralaya, implying that individuality is a contingent tattva rather than the ultimate Self; the Atman/Ishvara stands beyond these evolutes.
The verse supports tattva-viveka used in Yoga: by discerning ego as threefold and dissolvable, the practitioner weakens identification with guṇa-based personality and turns inward toward the witnessing consciousness emphasized in Kurma Purana’s Yoga teaching.
By presenting a shared Sāṅkhya-Yoga cosmology (tattvas, guṇas, pralaya), the text aligns Shaiva and Vaishnava metaphysics: the same supreme reality taught by Kūrma underlies the dissolution of ego and the path to liberation.