Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 47
Ikṣvāku-vaṃśa (Genealogy) culminating in Rāma; Setu-liṅga Māhātmya; Continuation through Kuśa and Lava
सेतुमध्ये महादेवमीशानं कृत्तिवाससम् / स्थापयामास लिङ्गस्थं पूजयामास राघवः
setumadhye mahādevamīśānaṃ kṛttivāsasam / sthāpayāmāsa liṅgasthaṃ pūjayāmāsa rāghavaḥ
Au milieu du Setu, Rāghava (Rāma) installa Mahādeva—Īśāna, le Seigneur vêtu d’une peau—présent sous forme de liṅga, et il l’adora.
Purāṇic narrator (Vyāsa/Śaunaka-style narration; verse in third-person description of Rāma’s act)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
By portraying Rāma reverently establishing and worshipping Īśāna as the liṅga, the verse points to the Purāṇic insight that the Supreme is approachable through a concrete symbol while remaining transcendent—one reality honored through devotional form.
The verse foregrounds pūjā as a disciplined sādhana: स्थापना (ritual consecration), ध्यान/भाव (focused reverence toward Īśāna), and सेवा (acts of worship). In Kurma Purana’s broader Shaiva framework, such devotion supports inner steadiness that complements Pāśupata-oriented restraint and contemplation.
Rāma—an avatāra associated with Viṣṇu—personally installs and worships Śiva as Īśāna, illustrating Kurma Purana’s non-sectarian synthesis: devotion to one form of the Divine naturally includes reverence for the other, affirming unity rather than rivalry.