Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 4
Yuga-Dharma: The Four Ages, Decline of Dharma, and the Rise of Social Order
शिष्यैः प्रशिष्यैरभितः संवृतं ब्रह्मवादिनम् / पपात दण्डवद् भूमौ त्यक्त्वा शोकं तदार्ऽजुनः
śiṣyaiḥ praśiṣyairabhitaḥ saṃvṛtaṃ brahmavādinam / papāta daṇḍavad bhūmau tyaktvā śokaṃ tadār'junaḥ
Da warf Arjuna seinen Kummer ab und warf sich wie ein Stab zu Boden vor jenem Verkünder des Brahman, der ringsum von Schülern und Enkelschülern umgeben war.
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator describing Arjuna’s act of surrender)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: bhakti
FAQs
By foregrounding a “brahmavādin” (one who teaches Brahman), the verse points to Brahman/Ātman-knowledge as the remedy for sorrow: Arjuna abandons grief and approaches the teacher of the Supreme Reality through surrender.
The verse emphasizes the foundational yogic discipline of śaraṇāgati (humble surrender) and guru-upāsanā (reverent approach to the teacher). Such humility is treated as a prerequisite for higher practices—self-control, contemplation, and Brahman-inquiry—central to Kurma Purana’s spiritual ethos.
Indirectly, it supports the Purāṇa’s non-sectarian synthesis: the focus is not on sect identity but on Brahman-teaching and liberation from grief—an aim shared across Shaiva-Vaishnava frameworks in the Kurma Purana’s integrative theology.