Shloka 35
Yati-Āśrama: Bhikṣā-vidhi, Īśvara-dhyāna, and Prāyaścitta
Mahādeva as Non-dual Brahman
स्कन्देदिन्द्रियदौर्बल्यात् स्त्रियं दृष्ट्वा यतिर्यदि / तेन धारयितव्या वै प्राणायामास्तु षोडश / दिवास्कन्दे त्रिरात्रं स्यात् प्राणायामशतं तथा
skandedindriyadaurbalyāt striyaṃ dṛṣṭvā yatiryadi / tena dhārayitavyā vai prāṇāyāmāstu ṣoḍaśa / divāskande trirātraṃ syāt prāṇāyāmaśataṃ tathā
If, through weakness of the senses, an ascetic (yati) looks upon a woman with a lapse of restraint, he should steady himself by performing sixteen prāṇāyāmas. If the lapse occurs by day, it is to be observed for three nights, and likewise one hundred prāṇāyāmas are prescribed.
Sūta (narrating a dharma-yoga teaching as transmitted by the sages)
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
Indirectly: it treats sense-weakness as an obstacle to steadiness; by prāṇāyāma and restraint the mind becomes fit for Atman-realization, which in the Kurma Purana’s yoga-dharma is the higher aim beyond mere expiation.
Prāṇāyāma as a corrective discipline: prescribed counts (sixteen, and in a stricter case one hundred) function as tapas and mind-regulation to restore brahmacarya, indriya-nigraha, and meditative stability.
Not explicitly in this verse; it reflects the Kurma Purana’s shared yoga-ethic valued in both Shaiva and Vaishnava traditions—purification through tapas and prāṇāyāma as a common path toward the one Supreme.