Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 82
Dakṣa-yajña-bhaṅgaḥ — Dadhīci’s Teaching and the Destruction of Dakṣa’s Sacrifice
स आत्मा सर्वभूतानां स बीजं परमा गतिः / स्तूयते वैदिकैर्मन्त्रैर्देवदेवो महेश्वरः
sa ātmā sarvabhūtānāṃ sa bījaṃ paramā gatiḥ / stūyate vaidikairmantrairdevadevo maheśvaraḥ
Il est le Soi de tous les êtres ; Il est la semence (cause) et le but suprême. Mahādeva—Maheśvara, Dieu des dieux—est loué par les mantras védiques.
Lord Kurma (Vishnu) speaking in a Shaiva–Vaishnava harmonizing voice (Kurma Purana narrative frame)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
It identifies Maheśvara as the Ātman present in all beings, indicating an all-pervading inner Self rather than a merely external deity, and thus frames liberation as realizing that supreme inner reality.
While not prescribing a technique directly, the verse supplies the core contemplative support used in Pāśupata-oriented devotion and meditation: fixing awareness on Maheśvara as both the causal seed (bīja) and the final refuge (paramā gati), reinforced through Vedic mantra-recitation (mantra-japa/adhyāya).
In the Kurma Purana’s integrative theology, Vishnu (as Kurma) can proclaim Śiva as the supreme Self and goal, presenting sectarian forms as converging in one ultimate reality—Maheśvara praised by Vedic revelation.