Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 18
Mādhayameśvara-māhātmya — Vyāsa at Mandākinī and the Pāśupata Vision
तत्क्षणादेव विमलं संभूतं ज्योतिरुत्तमम् / लीनास्तत्रैव ते विप्राः क्षणादन्तरधीयत
tatkṣaṇādeva vimalaṃ saṃbhūtaṃ jyotiruttamam / līnāstatraiva te viprāḥ kṣaṇādantaradhīyata
À l’instant même surgit une radiance immaculée, la plus excellente. Dans cette lumière même, ces sages brahmanes furent absorbés, et en un moment ils disparurent à la vue.
Suta (narrator) describing the event to the assembled sages
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
By portraying the “stainless supreme light” into which the sages merge, the verse points to the Atman/Brahman as pure consciousness—formless, luminous, and capable of absorbing all limited identities.
The key idea is laya (absorption): through sustained yogic contemplation and inner purity, the mind dissolves into the supreme radiance, culminating in antardhāna—transcending ordinary perception.
Rather than emphasizing sectarian form, it emphasizes the shared puranic principle of one supreme, stainless jyoti—compatible with both Shaiva (Ishvara as light) and Vaishnava (Narayana as supreme) contemplative theology.