Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 21
Prākṛta-pralaya, Pratisarga Doctrine, and the Ishvara-Samanvaya of Yoga and Devotion
प्रधानपुंसोरजयोरेष संहार ईरितः / महेश्वरेच्छाजनितो न स्वयं विद्यते लयः
pradhānapuṃsorajayoreṣa saṃhāra īritaḥ / maheśvarecchājanito na svayaṃ vidyate layaḥ
Así se ha declarado la disolución de Pradhāna y Puruṣa junto con los guṇa. La disolución no acontece por sí sola; nace únicamente de la voluntad de Maheśvara.
Lord Kurma (Vishnu) teaching in a Shaiva-theistic idiom (Maheśvara as Īśvara)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
It emphasizes a supreme governing Īśvara (here named Maheśvara) whose will initiates cosmic dissolution, implying that ultimate reality is not an unconscious mechanism but a conscious lordship directing Prakṛti and Puruṣa.
The verse supports Īśvara-centric contemplation: in Pāśupata-oriented teaching, one meditates on the Lord as the inner ruler whose icchā governs creation and dissolution, cultivating surrender (īśvara-praṇidhāna) and detachment from guṇic processes.
Though spoken in the Kurma Purana’s Vaishnava setting, it attributes cosmic control to Maheśvara, reflecting the text’s Shaiva–Vaishnava unity where the supreme Lord can be expressed through Shiva terminology without contradiction.