Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 1
Viṣṇu at Upamanyu’s Āśrama: Pāśupata Tapas, Darśana of Śiva, and Boons from Devī
इति श्रीकूर्मपुराणे षट्साहस्त्र्यां संहितायां पूर्वविभागे त्रयोविंशो ऽध्यायः सूत उवाच अथ देवो हृषीकेशो भगवान् पुरुषोत्तमः / तताप घोरं पुत्रार्थं निदानं तपसस्तपः
iti śrīkūrmapurāṇe ṣaṭsāhastryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ pūrvavibhāge trayoviṃśo 'dhyāyaḥ sūta uvāca atha devo hṛṣīkeśo bhagavān puruṣottamaḥ / tatāpa ghoraṃ putrārthaṃ nidānaṃ tapasastapaḥ
Ainsi, dans le Śrī Kūrma Purāṇa, dans la Saṃhitā de six mille vers, dans la section première, s’achève le vingt-troisième chapitre. Sūta dit : Alors le Seigneur Hṛṣīkeśa—Bhagavān, le Purusottama—accomplit une austérité redoutable pour obtenir un fils, entreprenant le tapas qui est la source et l’archétype de toute austérité.
Sūta
Primary Rasa: vira
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
By naming Hṛṣīkeśa as “Bhagavān” and “Puruṣottama,” the verse frames the Supreme as the personal, sovereign ground of spiritual discipline—one whose will can employ tapas as a cosmic principle, implying a supreme Self that is both transcendent and purposively active.
The verse highlights tapas (austerity) as a primary yogic instrument—intense self-discipline and concentrated spiritual effort—presented as “tapasas tapaḥ,” i.e., a paradigmatic form of ascetic practice that undergirds later Purāṇic discussions of vow, restraint, and meditative resolve.
While Śiva is not named in this line, the Kurma Purāṇa’s characteristic synthesis is supported here by presenting tapas as a shared, trans-sectarian spiritual technology: the Supreme (here Vishnu as Hṛṣīkeśa) exemplifies the same ascetic principle celebrated in Śaiva-Pāśupata contexts.