Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 34
Daily Duties of Brāhmaṇas: Snāna, Sandhyā, Sūrya-hṛdaya, Japa, Tarpaṇa, and the Pañca-mahāyajñas
उपस्थाय महायोगं देवदेवं दिवाकरम् / कुर्वोत प्रणतिं भूमौ मूर्ध्ना तेनैव मन्त्रतः
upasthāya mahāyogaṃ devadevaṃ divākaram / kurvota praṇatiṃ bhūmau mūrdhnā tenaiva mantrataḥ
Nachdem man Divākara, die Sonne—erhaben im Yoga und Gott der Götter—aufgesucht und verehrt hat, soll man sich mit dem Haupt zur Erde vollständig niederwerfen und dies mit eben jenem Mantra tun.
Narrator (Purāṇic instruction within the Kurma Purana’s ritual-yogic discourse)
Primary Rasa: bhakti
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
By calling the deity “mahāyoga,” the verse frames the divine as the very ground and goal of Yoga—hinting that realization is attained through disciplined reverence where the worshipper’s ego bows down (praṇati) before the supreme principle.
It highlights a ritual-yogic practice: approaching the deity with focused attention, reciting the prescribed mantra, and performing a full prostration (head to earth). This integrates bodily discipline, mantra, and devotion as a unified sādhana.
Though this verse names the Sun as “devadeva” and “mahāyoga,” the Kurma Purana’s broader synthesis treats such supreme epithets as pointing to one highest reality revered through multiple divine forms—supporting a non-sectarian, integrative (Shaiva–Vaishnava) devotional Yoga.