Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 33
Devī-tattva, Śakti–Śaktimān doctrine, Kāla–Māyā cosmology, and Māheśvara Yoga instruction
प्रधानं पुरुषस्तत्त्वं महानात्मा त्वहङ्कृतिः / कालेनान्यानि तत्त्वानि समाविष्टानि योगिना
pradhānaṃ puruṣastattvaṃ mahānātmā tvahaṅkṛtiḥ / kālenānyāni tattvāni samāviṣṭāni yoginā
Pradhāna (Urnatur) und Puruṣa (Bewusstsein) sind die grundlegenden Prinzipien; aus ihnen entstehen Mahat (das Große Prinzip, kosmische Intelligenz) und dann Ahaṅkāra (das Gefühl des „Ich“). Zu seiner Zeit werden durch die Zeit auch die übrigen Tattvas zurückgezogen und wieder vereint—durch den Yogin, der den Vorgang der Auflösung kennt.
Lord Kurma (Vishnu) teaching Indradyumna (Ishvara Gita context)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
It frames reality through tattvas—Pradhāna and Puruṣa as primary—and implies that the realized yogin can witness and effect the reabsorption of derived principles, pointing to a transcendent consciousness beyond Mahat and Ahaṅkāra.
The verse emphasizes laya (reabsorption) through yogic realization: understanding the hierarchy of tattvas and, by disciplined Yoga, allowing the mind’s identifications (ahaṅkāra and its evolutes) to merge back through the power of Kāla into their source.
By teaching a shared yogic-cosmological framework (tattvas, Kāla, laya) within the Ishvara Gita spoken by Vishnu as Kurma, it supports the Purana’s synthesis: the same Supreme Ishvara—revered as Shiva in Pashupata idiom and as Vishnu in Vaishnava idiom—governs creation and dissolution.