Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 1
Prāyaścitta for Mahāpātakas: Liquor, Theft, Sexual Transgression, Contact with the Fallen, and Homicide
इति श्रीकूर्मपाराणे षट्साहस्त्र्यां संहितायामुपरिविभागे एकत्रिशो ऽध्यायः व्यास उवाच सुरापस्तु सुरां तप्तामग्निवर्णां स्वयं पिबेत् / तया स काये निर्दग्धे मुच्यते तु द्विजोत्तमः
iti śrīkūrmapārāṇe ṣaṭsāhastryāṃ saṃhitāyāmuparivibhāge ekatriśo 'dhyāyaḥ vyāsa uvāca surāpastu surāṃ taptāmagnivarṇāṃ svayaṃ pibet / tayā sa kāye nirdagdhe mucyate tu dvijottamaḥ
Thus, in the Śrī Kūrma Purāṇa, in the Ṣaṭsāhasrī Saṃhitā, in the latter division—(the close of) the thirty-first chapter. Vyāsa said: “But one who has drunk liquor should himself drink liquor heated, fire-colored; when his body is burnt by that, the best of the twice-born is released from the sin.”
Vyasa
Primary Rasa: bibhatsa
Secondary Rasa: raudra
FAQs
This verse is not a direct ātma-tattva teaching; it belongs to the dharma/prāyaścitta layer of the Kūrma Purāṇa, emphasizing purification through expiation so that the practitioner becomes fit for higher disciplines like jñāna and yoga taught elsewhere (including the Ishvara Gītā section).
No specific yoga technique is taught in this line; it presents a severe prāyaścitta (expiatory act) for surā-pāna. In the Purāṇic framework, such ethical purification (śuddhi) is treated as a prerequisite for sustained sādhana—especially Pāśupata-oriented restraint, vows, and disciplined living.
This particular verse does not address Śiva–Viṣṇu unity directly; it reflects the shared Purāṇic dharma tradition where moral purification supports devotion and yoga, which the Kūrma Purāṇa later frames within its broader Shaiva-Vaishnava synthesis.