Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 12
Puṣkara-dvīpa, Lokāloka, and the Measure of the Brahmāṇḍa
Cosmic Egg
तस्याः परेण शैलस्तु मर्यादात्मात्ममण्डलः / प्रकाशश्चाप्रकाशश्च लोकालोकः स उच्यते
tasyāḥ pareṇa śailastu maryādātmātmamaṇḍalaḥ / prakāśaścāprakāśaśca lokālokaḥ sa ucyate
Au-delà de cette contrée se dresse une montagne dont la nature même est une frontière ceignant la sphère du Soi (Ātman). Elle est à la fois lumineuse et non lumineuse; c’est pourquoi on l’appelle Lokāloka, séparatrice du monde et du non-monde, de la lumière et des ténèbres.
Sūta (narrator) recounting the Purāṇic cosmography as taught in the Kurma Purana
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
By calling the cosmic boundary an “ātma-maṇḍala” (sphere of the Self), the verse hints that the ordered cosmos is enclosed within a principled limit—suggesting an intelligible, law-like structure grounded in Self/inner reality rather than randomness.
No specific technique is named, but the imagery of “maryādā” (boundary) supports Yogic discipline: mastery arises through setting limits—restraining the senses and distinguishing illumination (prakāśa) from obscuration (aprakāśa), a foundational contemplative discrimination.
The verse is cosmographic rather than sectarian; its boundary-of-light teaching aligns with the Kurma Purana’s synthesis where cosmic order (often expressed through Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava idioms elsewhere) is one dharmic reality, not competing absolutes.