Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 12
Time-Reckoning (Kāla-gaṇanā): Yugas, Manvantaras, Kalpas, and Prākṛta Pralaya
ब्रह्मणो दिवसे विप्रा मनवः स्युश्चतुर्दश / स्वायंभुवादयः सर्वे ततः सावर्णिकादयः
brahmaṇo divase viprā manavaḥ syuścaturdaśa / svāyaṃbhuvādayaḥ sarve tataḥ sāvarṇikādayaḥ
O ihr Brāhmaṇas, innerhalb eines einzigen Tages Brahmās gibt es vierzehn Manus. Sie alle werden gezählt, beginnend mit Svāyambhuva, und danach fortlaufend mit denen, die mit Sāvarṇi beginnen.
Narrator (Purāṇic discourse to the sages/brāhmaṇas; traditional frame often via Sūta/Vyāsa lineage)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
Indirectly: it frames cosmic time (Brahmā’s day and the manvantaras) as an ordered manifestation; later Kurma Purana teachings place the unchanging Self beyond these cycles, while dharma operates within them.
No specific practice is taught in this verse; it establishes the cosmological timetable (manvantaras) that underlies dharma and discipline. In the Kurma Purana’s broader arc, such order supports later yoga-instructions (including Pāśupata-oriented restraint and devotion).
It does not explicitly mention Śiva–Viṣṇu unity; it provides shared cosmological ground (Brahmā’s day and Manus) that the Purāṇa later integrates with its Śaiva–Vaiṣṇava synthesis.