Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 29
Sapta-dvīpa Cosmography and the Vision of Śvetadvīpa–Vaikuṇṭha
पुष्कराः पुष्कला धन्यास्तिष्यास्तस्य क्रमेण वै / ब्राह्मणाः क्षत्रिया वैश्याः शूद्राश्चैव द्विजोत्तमाः
puṣkarāḥ puṣkalā dhanyāstiṣyāstasya krameṇa vai / brāhmaṇāḥ kṣatriyā vaiśyāḥ śūdrāścaiva dvijottamāḥ
Puṣkara, Puṣkala, Dhanya, and Tiṣya—these arose in his succession, each in due order. From him came the Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, and also the Śūdras, O best among the twice-born.
Narrator tradition (Purāṇic narrator addressing a dvija—commonly Sūta/Vyāsa framework)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: vira
FAQs
This verse is primarily genealogical and social in focus, describing succession and the four varṇas; it does not directly teach an Ātman doctrine, but it presupposes a dharmic cosmos where social orders arise within an ordered creation.
No specific yoga practice is taught in this śloka. Its contribution is contextual: it grounds spiritual life in varṇāśrama-dharma, within which disciplines like japa, vrata, and yoga are traditionally undertaken in later teachings of the Purāṇa.
It does not explicitly address Śiva–Viṣṇu unity; it functions as a lineage/varna enumeration. In the Kurma Purāṇa’s broader Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis, such dharma-structures are presented as upheld by the same supreme governance, even when different deities are emphasized elsewhere.