Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 22
Naimiṣa-kṣetra-prādurbhāva and Jāpyeśvara-māhātmya — Nandī’s Birth, Japa, and Consecration
ततो यियक्षुः स्वां भूमिं शिलादो धर्मवित्तमः / चकर्ष लाङ्गलेनोर्वों भित्त्वादृश्यत शोभनः
tato yiyakṣuḥ svāṃ bhūmiṃ śilādo dharmavittamaḥ / cakarṣa lāṅgalenorvoṃ bhittvādṛśyata śobhanaḥ
Then Śilāda—foremost among the knowers of dharma—wishing to consecrate his own land for sacrifice, ploughed the earth with a ploughshare; and when the ground was split open, a splendid divine being became visible.
Purāṇic narrator (Sūta/Vyāsa tradition) describing the episode of Śilāda; not a direct speech by Īśvara-gītā Kurma.
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: vira
FAQs
Indirectly: it presents divinity as self-revealing—when dharma-aligned action (yajña-saṃskāra) is undertaken, a radiant presence “becomes visible,” suggesting the sacred is disclosed through purity and right order rather than mere speculation.
No explicit yogic technique is taught in this verse; instead it emphasizes karma in a dhārmic frame—yajña and saṃskāra (ritual consecration) as preparatory disciplines that purify intention, a foundation compatible with later Pāśupata-style inner discipline in the Kurma Purana.
The verse itself is neutral on sectarian identity; its key takeaway is the Purāṇic synthesis that divine manifestation can arise within dharma and yajña—an interpretive space the Kurma Purana often uses to harmonize Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava sacred presence.