Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 49
Yuga-Dharma: The Four Ages, Decline of Dharma, and the Rise of Social Order
द्वापरेष्वथ विद्यन्ते मतिभेदाः सदा नृणाम् / रागो लोभस्तथा युद्धं तत्त्वानामविनिश्चयः
dvāpareṣvatha vidyante matibhedāḥ sadā nṛṇām / rāgo lobhastathā yuddhaṃ tattvānāmaviniścayaḥ
Mais à l’âge de Dvāpara, des divergences d’opinion se trouvent sans cesse parmi les hommes; la passion (rāga) et l’avidité s’élèvent, avec la querelle et la guerre, et l’on ne parvient plus à trancher fermement sur les tattva, les principes du réel.
Lord Kūrma (Vishnu) instructing sages (Kurma Purana yuga-dharma discourse context)
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: raudra
FAQs
Indirectly: it says that in Dvāpara people fail to decisively ascertain tattvas, implying that clear discrimination of the Self (ātma-tattva) from transient passions and opinions becomes difficult and requires disciplined discernment.
The verse itself diagnoses the problem—rāga, lobha, and tattva-confusion. In the Kurma Purana’s broader Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis, this points to Yoga and jñāna-based disciplines (tattva-vicāra, self-restraint, and devotion to Īśvara) as the corrective to mental division and conflict.
It does not name Shiva or Vishnu explicitly; however, within the Kurma Purana’s unified Īśvara-teaching framework, the remedy to “tattvānām aviniścayaḥ” is knowledge and devotion to the one Supreme Lord revered through both Shaiva and Vaishnava lenses.