Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 10
Incarnations of Mahādeva in Kali-yuga (Vaivasvata Manvantara) and the Nakulīśa Horizon
वैवस्वते ऽन्तरे शंभोरवतारास्त्रिशूलिनः / अष्टाविंशतिराख्याता ह्यन्ते कलियुगे प्रभोः / तीर्थे कायावतारे स्याद् देवेशो नकुलीश्वरः
vaivasvate 'ntare śaṃbhoravatārāstriśūlinaḥ / aṣṭāviṃśatirākhyātā hyante kaliyuge prabhoḥ / tīrthe kāyāvatāre syād deveśo nakulīśvaraḥ
Dans le Manvantara de Vaivasvata, les incarnations de Śaṃbhu, le Seigneur porteur du Trident, sont déclarées au nombre de vingt-huit. Et à la fin du Kali-yuga, dans un tīrtha sacré, le Seigneur des dieux apparaîtra en incarnation corporelle sous le nom de Nakulīśvara.
Narrator in the Purāṇic discourse (traditionally Sūta/Ācārya voice conveying the account of the Kurma Purana’s teaching)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
It frames divine agency as manifesting through avatāras across cosmic time (manvantara and yuga), implying the Supreme reality can be approached both as transcendent and as immanent, embodied presence for the guidance of beings.
The verse itself does not list techniques, but by naming Nakulīśvara—associated in later Śaiva memory with Pāśupata currents—it points toward Pāśupata-oriented discipline where a realized teacher-form appears to re-establish sādhana and dharma near the yuga’s end.
Within the Kurma Purana’s synthetic theology, enumerating Śiva’s avatāras inside a Vaiṣṇava-framed Purāṇa supports complementarity: the same supreme dharma is upheld through different divine forms, with Śiva’s descents functioning as salvific guidance within the larger Purāṇic cosmos.