Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 34
Cosmic Manifestation, Mahāmāyā’s Mandate, Varṇāśrama-Dharma, and the Unity of the Trimūrti
तासु क्षीणास्वशेषासु कालयोगेन ताः पुनः / वार्तोपायं पुनश्चक्रुर्हस्तसिद्धिं च कर्मजाम् / ततस्तासां विभुर्ब्रह्मा कर्माजीवमकल्पयत्
tāsu kṣīṇāsvaśeṣāsu kālayogena tāḥ punaḥ / vārtopāyaṃ punaścakrurhastasiddhiṃ ca karmajām / tatastāsāṃ vibhurbrahmā karmājīvamakalpayat
Cuando aquellos medios quedaron por completo agotados por el curso del tiempo, idearon de nuevo un sustento: el comercio y los oficios prácticos logrados por las manos, nacidos del trabajo. Entonces el omnipotente Brahmā les ordenó una vida sostenida por acciones prescritas, un vivir conforme al karma.
Sūta (narrator) conveying the Purāṇic account of early social order under Brahmā
Primary Rasa: vira
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
Indirectly: it frames embodied life as governed by Kāla (Time) and Karma (action), implying that spiritual realization requires seeing the Self as distinct from changing economic conditions and work-based identity.
No explicit meditation is taught in this verse; it supports the Kurma Purana’s broader yoga-ethic that disciplined karma (right livelihood and duty) stabilizes society and becomes a foundation for higher practices like Pāśupata-oriented restraint, purity, and contemplation taught elsewhere.
This verse is administrative/cosmic rather than sectarian: Brahmā institutes karmic livelihood under the law of Time and action—principles that the Kurma Purana later integrates within a unified Shaiva–Vaishnava framework where dharma and yoga culminate in the one Supreme.