Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 40
Solar Rays, Planetary Nourishment, Dhruva-Bondage of the Grahas, and the Lunar Cycle
बृहस्पतेरथाष्टाश्वः स्यन्दनो हेमनिर्मितः / रथस्तमोमयो ऽष्टाश्वो मन्दस्यायसनिर्मितः / स्वर्भानोर्भास्करारेश्च तथा षड्भिर्हयैर्वृतः
bṛhaspaterathāṣṭāśvaḥ syandano hemanirmitaḥ / rathastamomayo 'ṣṭāśvo mandasyāyasanirmitaḥ / svarbhānorbhāskarāreśca tathā ṣaḍbhirhayairvṛtaḥ
Le char de Bṛhaspati est attelé de huit chevaux et son véhicule est façonné d’or. Manda/Śani, au mouvement lent, possède un char à huit chevaux, forgé de fer et de nature ténébreuse. Svarbhānu (Rāhu), ennemi du Soleil, est lui aussi accompagné de six chevaux.
Sūta (traditional Purāṇic narrator) describing cosmology to the sages
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
FAQs
Indirectly: by mapping the ordered movements and forms of the grahas, the verse supports the Purāṇic view that the cosmos functions under a higher, unifying governance—pointing the contemplative mind from changing planetary forms to the changeless Self that witnesses all change.
No explicit technique is taught in this verse, but such cosmological catalogues traditionally serve dhyāna and upāsanā: the practitioner steadies attention on cosmic order (ṛta/dharma), using the grahas’ forms as supports for concentration before turning inward toward īśvara-bhakti and self-knowledge.
The verse is cosmological rather than sectarian, reflecting the Kurma Purana’s integrative stance: planetary deities and cosmic forces operate within one sacred order upheld by the Supreme—reconciling Shaiva and Vaishnava devotion within a single dharmic cosmos.