Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 19
Sūrya’s Celestial Car: Ādityas, Ṛṣis, Gandharvas, Apsarases, Nāgas, and the Two-Month Cosmic Cycle
ग्रामणीयक्षभूतानि कुर्वते ऽभीषुसंग्रहम् / सर्पा वहन्ति देवेशं यातुधानाः प्रयान्ति च
grāmaṇīyakṣabhūtāni kurvate 'bhīṣusaṃgraham / sarpā vahanti deveśaṃ yātudhānāḥ prayānti ca
Scharen von Yakṣas und Bhūtas, von ihren Anführern geleitet, sammeln die Strahlenfülle (als ordneten sie die Lichtstrahlen). Schlangen tragen den Herrn der Götter, und auch die Yātudhānas ziehen in der Prozession mit.
Purāṇic narrator (Sūta/Vyāsa tradition), describing the divine entourage
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: vira
FAQs
By portraying even fierce and marginal beings (bhūtas, yātudhānas, nāgas) moving in ordered attendance to the Deveśa, the verse implies a single sovereign reality to which all classes of beings are subordinated—an outward narrative sign of inner spiritual unity under the Supreme Lord.
No explicit yogic technique is stated; however, the imagery of “gathering radiance” (abhīṣu-saṃgraha) can be read in a yogic register as the disciplined collecting of scattered energies toward a single focus—akin to pratyāhāra and dhāraṇā in Yoga-shāstra—supporting the Kurma Purana’s broader emphasis on regulated spiritual practice.
It emphasizes a shared Purāṇic theology where the supreme “Lord of the gods” is honored by all cosmic hosts; in the Kurma Purana’s synthesis, such lordship can be expressed through either Vaiṣṇava or Śaiva idiom, reinforcing functional non-duality in devotion and cosmic governance.