Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 15
Time-Reckoning (Kāla-gaṇanā): Yugas, Manvantaras, Kalpas, and Prākṛta Pralaya
ब्राह्ममेकमहः कल्पस्तावती रात्रिरिष्यते / चतुर्युगसहस्त्रं तु कल्पमाहुर्मनीषिणः
brāhmamekamahaḥ kalpastāvatī rātririṣyate / caturyugasahastraṃ tu kalpamāhurmanīṣiṇaḥ
Un jour de Brahmā est appelé « Kalpa », et une durée égale est tenue pour sa nuit. Les sages déclarent qu’un Kalpa comprend mille cycles des quatre yuga.
Sūta (narrator) conveying the Purāṇic cosmological teaching as received from sages
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
By mapping creation into Brahmā’s day and dissolution into his night, the verse implies that cosmic manifestation is cyclical and conditioned by time, while the highest reality (Atman/Ishvara) is understood in the Kurma Purana as the timeless ground that remains unchanged through these cycles.
This verse itself teaches kāla-jñāna (knowledge of cosmic time) rather than a specific technique; in the Kurma Purana’s spiritual framework, such cosmological discernment supports vairāgya (dispassion) and steadiness in sādhanā, which then culminates in disciplined Yoga (including Shaiva-Pāśupata orientations) taught elsewhere.
Indirectly: by presenting a shared Purāṇic cosmology (Brahmā’s day-night, kalpa, yuga cycles), it provides the common metaphysical stage on which the Kurma Purana later articulates Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis—one Ishvara guiding creation and dissolution through different divine forms.