Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 1
Solar Rays, Planetary Nourishment, Dhruva-Bondage of the Grahas, and the Lunar Cycle
इति श्रीकूर्मपुराणे षट्साहस्त्र्यां संहितायां पूर्वविभागे चत्वारिशो ऽध्यायः सूत उवाच एवमेष महादेवो देवदेवः पितामहः / करोति नियतं कालं कालात्मा ह्यैश्वरी तनुः
iti śrīkūrmapurāṇe ṣaṭsāhastryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ pūrvavibhāge catvāriśo 'dhyāyaḥ sūta uvāca evameṣa mahādevo devadevaḥ pitāmahaḥ / karoti niyataṃ kālaṃ kālātmā hyaiśvarī tanuḥ
Thus, in the Śrī Kūrma Purāṇa, in the six-thousand-verse Saṃhitā, in the Pūrva-bhāga, the fortieth chapter concludes. Sūta said: “In this way Mahādeva—God of gods, the primordial Father—ordains Time in its fixed order; for Time is his very Self, indeed his sovereign (aiśvarī) form.”
Sūta
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
It presents the Supreme Lord (here identified as Mahādeva) as Kāla itself—Time is not merely an external force but a divine mode of being (kālātmā), indicating an immanent sovereignty that orders all change.
No specific technique is prescribed in this verse; its yogic implication is contemplative—meditating on Īśvara as Kāla, the regulator of all cycles, supporting dispassion (vairāgya) and steadiness of mind central to Purāṇic yoga and Pāśupata-oriented devotion.
Within the Kūrma Purāṇa’s synthetic theology, divine sovereignty is expressed through shared supreme attributes (like being the source and ruler of Time), allowing Śaiva language (Mahādeva as Kāla) to function within a broader Purāṇic non-sectarian framework.