Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 1
Madhu–Kaiṭabha, Nārāyaṇa’s Yoga-Nidrā, Rudra’s Manifestation, and the Aṣṭamūrti–Trimūrti Teaching
इति श्रीकूर्मपुराणे षट्साहस्त्र्यां संहितायां पूर्वविभागे नवमो ऽध्यायः श्रीकूर्म उवाच गते महेश्वरे देवे स्वाधिवासं पितामहः / तदेव सुमहत् पद्मं भेजे नाभिसमुत्थितम्
iti śrīkūrmapurāṇe ṣaṭsāhastryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ pūrvavibhāge navamo 'dhyāyaḥ śrīkūrma uvāca gate maheśvare deve svādhivāsaṃ pitāmahaḥ / tadeva sumahat padmaṃ bheje nābhisamutthitam
Ainsi, dans le Śrī Kūrma Purāṇa, dans la Ṣaṭsāhasrī Saṃhitā, dans le Pūrvavibhāga, s’achève le neuvième chapitre. Śrī Kūrma dit : Lorsque le dieu Maheśvara fut parti vers sa propre demeure, Pitāmaha (Brahmā) prit place sur ce même lotus immense né du nombril.
Lord Kurma (Vishnu)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
By presenting Brahmā’s lotus-seat as arising from the divine navel (implicitly Nārāyaṇa), the verse points to a single supreme source from which creation and cosmic offices proceed—suggesting the Self as the underlying origin beyond changing forms.
No explicit yogic technique is taught in this verse; it functions as cosmological framing. In the Kurma Purana’s broader teaching, such framing supports meditation on īśvara as the causal ground (kāraṇa) of the cosmos, a basis for later Pāśupata-yoga and īśvara-bhāvanā themes.
It places Maheśvara’s transcendence (returning to his own abode) alongside Brahmā’s lotus-seat arising from the navel of the supreme source (implied Nārāyaṇa), reflecting the Purāṇa’s integrative vision where cosmic roles operate harmoniously without denying either Śiva’s supremacy or Viṣṇu’s causal ground.