Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 40
Adhyāya 25 — Liṅga-māhātmya (The Chapter on the Liṅga): Hari’s Śiva-Worship and the Fiery Pillar Theophany
प्रविश्य भवनं कृष्ण आशीर्वादाभिवर्धितः / वरासने महायोगी भाति देवीभिरन्वितः
praviśya bhavanaṃ kṛṣṇa āśīrvādābhivardhitaḥ / varāsane mahāyogī bhāti devībhiranvitaḥ
Als Kṛṣṇa den Palast betrat, durch Segensworte gestärkt, erstrahlte er als der große Yogin, auf einem herrlichen Thron sitzend und von den Göttinnen (Devī) umgeben.
Sūta (narrator) recounting the scene to the sages (Naimiṣāraṇya frame)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
By calling Kṛṣṇa “Mahāyogī” and describing his radiance, the verse presents the Supreme as inwardly established (yoga-sthita) yet outwardly manifest—self-luminous and sovereign, receiving honor without being dependent on it.
No step-by-step practice is taught in this line; instead, “Mahāyogī” signals mastery of Yoga—steadfast inner absorption and lordship over the senses—consistent with the Kurma Purana’s broader yogic ethos later systematized in its Shaiva-Vaishnava synthesis.
Though Śiva is not named here, the epithet “Mahāyogī” uses a Shaiva-coded yogic title for Kṛṣṇa, aligning with the Kurma Purana’s non-sectarian method: the same Supreme is praised through both Vaishnava and Shaiva spiritual vocabulary.