Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 17
Solar Rays, Planetary Nourishment, Dhruva-Bondage of the Grahas, and the Lunar Cycle
वरुणो माघमासे तु सूर्यः पूषा तु फल्गुने / चैत्रे मासि भवेदंशो धाता वैशाखतापनः
varuṇo māghamāse tu sūryaḥ pūṣā tu phalgune / caitre māsi bhavedaṃśo dhātā vaiśākhatāpanaḥ
In the month of Māgha, Varuṇa presides; in Phālguna, Sūrya as Pūṣan presides. In Caitra, Aṁśa becomes the presiding deity; and in Vaiśākha, Dhātṛ—known as Tāpana, the “giver of heat”—presides.
Sūta (narrating the Purāṇic account to the sages, describing the monthly presiding solar deities)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
Indirectly: by mapping divine functions to time (months), it presents a cosmos ordered by intelligible powers; in Kurma Purāṇa’s broader theology, such ordered manifestations point back to a single sustaining Reality (Īśvara/Ātman) behind all names and functions.
No specific yoga technique is taught in this verse; its practical use is dharmic observance—choosing proper times for vratas, worship, and discipline, which in the Kurma Purāṇa supports inner purification that complements Pāśupata-style restraint and devotion found elsewhere.
The verse itself is calendrical and solar; however, in the Kurma Purāṇa’s Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis, such deities function as coordinated limbs of one cosmic order under Īśvara—supporting the text’s tendency to harmonize sectarian forms within a unified sacred governance.