Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 192

Devī-tattva, Śakti–Śaktimān doctrine, Kāla–Māyā cosmology, and Māheśvara Yoga instruction

Devanagari script

वेदविद्याव्रतस्नाता धर्मशीलानिलाशना / वीरभद्रप्रिया वीरा महाकालसमुद्भवा

Transliteration

vedavidyāvratasnātā dharmaśīlānilāśanā / vīrabhadrapriyā vīrā mahākālasamudbhavā

Translation

Purifiée par la science védique et les vœux sacrés, ferme dans le dharma et consumant le souffle même de la vie. Bien-aimée de Vīrabhadra, l’héroïque; née de Mahākāla.

Word by Word

• वेद-विद्या-व्रत-स्नाता: initiated/versed through vows of Vedic learning
• वेद-विद्या-व्रत-स्नाता: Karta (कर्ता/Subject—epithet)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वेद (प्रातिपदिक) + विद्या (प्रातिपदिक) + व्रत (प्रातिपदिक) + स्नात (कृदन्त; √स्ना धातु)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; स्नाता = क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle) ‘स्ना (स्नान) क्त’; ‘वेदविद्याव्रतेषु स्नाता’ इति (locative/field relation)

• धर्म-शीला: virtuous; of righteous conduct
• धर्म-शीला: Karta (कर्ता/Subject—epithet)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: धर्म (प्रातिपदिक) + शील (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्मधारयः—धर्मः एव शीलं यस्याः सा

• अनिल-आशना: air-eating; living on air
• अनिल-आशना: Karta (कर्ता/Subject—epithet)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनिल (प्रातिपदिक) + आशन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘अनिलं (वायुम्) अश्नाति’ इति (object relation) तत्पुरुषः; आशना = ‘eater/consumer’

• वीरभद्र-प्रिया: beloved of Vīrabhadra
• वीरभद्र-प्रिया: Karta (कर्ता/Subject—epithet)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वीरभद्र (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रिय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘वीरभद्रस्य प्रिया’ इति षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः

• वीरा: heroic; valiant
• वीरा: Karta (कर्ता/Subject—epithet)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वीर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषणम्

• महाकाल-समुद्भवा: arisen from Mahākāla
• महाकाल-समुद्भवा: Karta (कर्ता/Subject—epithet)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महाकाल (प्रातिपदिक) + समुद्भव (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त-भाव)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘महाकालात् समुद्भवा’ इति पञ्चमी-तत्पुरुषः (ablative relation)

Speaker

Lord Kurma (Vishnu) instructing in the Ishvara Gita context; the verse functions as a litany-style epithet describing a Shaiva-Shakta power associated with Mahakala

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: vira

Secondary Rasa: raudra

Characters & Entities

• Vīrabhadra
• Mahākāla

More Details (4 sections)

FAQs

How does this verse explain the nature of the Supreme Self (Atman)?

By presenting the deity as arising from Mahākāla (the Lord as Time) and as the consumer of “anila” (vital breath), the verse points to a power that transcends individual life-force and time—suggesting the Supreme Reality as that from which time and prāṇa derive and into which they dissolve.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

The verse foregrounds purification through Vedic knowledge and vrata (disciplined observances). In Kurma Purana’s Pāśupata-oriented frame, this implies sādhana grounded in śauca (purity), niyama-like vows, and mantra/stotra recitation that aligns prāṇa and conduct with dharma.

How does this verse depict the relationship between Shiva and Vishnu?

Though spoken within the Ishvara Gita setting attributed to Lord Kūrma, the verse praises a power born of Mahākāla and linked to Vīrabhadra—affirming the Purana’s integrative stance where Vaiṣṇava narration can legitimately extol Śaiva-Shākta divinity without contradiction.