Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 16
Prākṛta Sṛṣṭi and Pralaya: From Pradhāna to Brahmāṇḍa; Trimūrti Samanvaya
प्रधानात् क्षोभ्यमाणाच्च तथा पुंसः पुरातनात् / प्रादुरासीन्महद् बीजं प्रधानपुरुषात्मकम्
pradhānāt kṣobhyamāṇācca tathā puṃsaḥ purātanāt / prādurāsīnmahad bījaṃ pradhānapuruṣātmakam
Aus Pradhāna (der Urnatur), wenn sie in Bewegung versetzt wird, und aus dem uralten Puruṣa (dem ursprünglichen Bewusstsein) trat der große Same hervor—Mahat—dessen Wesen sowohl Pradhāna als auch Puruṣa ist.
Sūta (narrating the teaching of the sages in the Purva-bhaga creation discourse)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
It presents the primordial Consciousness (Puruṣa) as the timeless principle whose proximity/agency, together with the stirred Pradhāna, allows Mahat (cosmic intellect) to manifest—implying that consciousness is fundamental and catalytic rather than merely a product of matter.
No direct practice is prescribed in this verse; instead it supplies the metaphysical map (Pradhāna–Puruṣa–Mahat) that later supports Yoga disciplines in the Kurma tradition—where discernment (viveka) between consciousness and nature becomes the basis for liberation-oriented meditation.
Indirectly: by grounding creation in a shared tattva framework (Pradhāna–Puruṣa), the Purāṇa prepares its synthetic stance where sectarian names (Śiva/Vişņu) point to the same supreme reality functioning as consciousness and lordship in cosmogenesis.