Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 1
Sapta-dvīpa Cosmography and the Vision of Śvetadvīpa–Vaikuṇṭha
इति श्रीकूर्मपुराणे षट्साहस्त्र्यां संहितायां पूर्वविभागे षट्चत्वारिशो ऽध्यायः सूत उवाच जम्बूद्वीपस्य विस्ताराद् द्विगुणेन समन्ततः / संवेष्टयित्वा क्षारोदं प्लक्षद्वीपो व्यवस्थितः
iti śrīkūrmapurāṇe ṣaṭsāhastryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ pūrvavibhāge ṣaṭcatvāriśo 'dhyāyaḥ sūta uvāca jambūdvīpasya vistārād dviguṇena samantataḥ / saṃveṣṭayitvā kṣārodaṃ plakṣadvīpo vyavasthitaḥ
Sūta sprach: Jambūdvīpa ringsum umgebend, mit einer Breite, die doppelt so groß ist wie seine Ausdehnung, liegt Plakṣadvīpa, das den Kṣāroda, den Ozean salziger Wasser, umschließt.
Suta
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
This verse is primarily cosmographical, mapping the dvīpa–ocean arrangement; implicitly, such ordered description reflects a Purāṇic vision of an intelligible, law-governed cosmos sustained by Īśvara, but it does not directly define Ātman.
No specific yoga practice is taught in this verse; it belongs to the Purva-bhāga’s geographic/cosmic narration rather than the Upari-bhāga’s explicit yoga and īśvara-teachings (often associated with themes like Pāśupata Yoga).
It does not explicitly discuss Śiva–Viṣṇu unity; it presents Sūta’s neutral cosmography. The Kurma Purāṇa’s broader synthesis frames cosmological order as ultimately grounded in the one supreme Lord revered through both Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava idioms.