Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 49
Nine Creations (Sarga), Guṇa-Streams of Beings, and Brahmā’s Progeny in Cyclic Time
ततः स भगवान् ब्रह्मा संप्राप्य द्विजपुङ्गवाः / मूर्ति तमोरजः प्रायां पुनरेवाभ्ययूयुजत्
tataḥ sa bhagavān brahmā saṃprāpya dvijapuṅgavāḥ / mūrti tamorajaḥ prāyāṃ punarevābhyayūyujat
Alors le Bienheureux Seigneur Brahmā—ô vous, les plus éminents des deux-fois-nés—s’étant approché de vous, s’attela de nouveau à une forme où dominent tamas et rajas, afin que l’œuvre de la manifestation se poursuive.
Sūta (narrator) describing Brahmā’s cosmic function to the assembled sages
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
By implying that Brahmā’s creative activity operates through guṇas (tamas and rajas), the verse points to a higher principle beyond guṇas—the guṇātīta Self—while creation proceeds within prakṛti’s modalities.
The verse itself is cosmological, but it supports the Kurma Purana’s yogic thrust: liberation requires discernment (viveka) between the guṇa-bound functions of creation and the guṇa-transcending witness; this becomes the basis for meditation on the Self/Iśvara beyond rajas-tamas agitation.
Indirectly: it frames cosmic governance as role-based within guṇas (Brahmā as creator), while the Purana’s broader synthesis holds the supreme Iśvara—revered in both Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava idioms—as the transcendent ground beyond guṇas.