Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 31
Vārāṇasī (Avimukta) Māhātmya and the Catalogue of Guhya-Tīrthas
चतुर्दश्यामथाष्टम्यां प्रवेशं देहि शाङ्करि / एवमस्त्वित्यनुज्ञाय देवी चान्तरधीयत
caturdaśyāmathāṣṭamyāṃ praveśaṃ dehi śāṅkari / evamastvityanujñāya devī cāntaradhīyata
“O Śāṅkarī, Consort of Śaṅkara, grant (us) leave for the ceremonial entry on the fourteenth lunar day and again on the eighth.” Assenting—“So be it”—the Goddess granted permission and then vanished from sight.
Narrator (Purāṇic storyteller, traditionally within Vyāsa’s narration framework)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
This verse is primarily ritual-narrative: it emphasizes divine sanction (anujñā) and the Goddess’s transcendence (antaradhīyata, “vanished”), indirectly pointing to the divine as not limited to visible form—an idea compatible with Purāṇic teaching that the Supreme is beyond sensory grasp.
No direct yogic technique is taught here; the focus is on dharmic timing and authorized observance. In the Kurma Purana’s broader Shaiva framework, such tithi-based discipline supports sādhana by regulating conduct, purity, and devotional concentration—often paired elsewhere with Pāśupata-oriented restraint and worship.
The verse invokes Śāṅkarī (Śiva’s Śakti), reflecting the text’s Shaiva devotional layer. In the Kurma Purana’s wider synthesis, honoring Devī/Śiva is not opposed to Vaiṣṇava devotion; rather, divine authority and grace operate across forms, supporting the Purāṇic theme of unity in dharma and worship.