Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 25
Prākṛta Sṛṣṭi and Pralaya: From Pradhāna to Brahmāṇḍa; Trimūrti Samanvaya
आकाशस्तु विकुर्वाणः स्पर्शमात्रं ससर्ज ह / वायुरुत्पद्यते तस्मात् तस्य स्पर्शो गुणो मतः
ākāśastu vikurvāṇaḥ sparśamātraṃ sasarja ha / vāyurutpadyate tasmāt tasya sparśo guṇo mataḥ
આકાશ વિકૃતિ પામી માત્ર સ્પર્શ-તન્માત્રાનું સર્જન કરે છે. તેમાંથી વાયુ ઉત્પન્ન થાય છે; તેથી સ્પર્શને તેનું ગુણ માનવામાં આવે છે.
Sūta (narrator) conveying the Purāṇic sarga-teaching in the Kurma Purana’s cosmology section
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
By mapping how gross elements arise from subtler principles, the verse implicitly distinguishes the changing tattvas (ākāśa, vāyu, guṇas) from the unchanging witnessing Self (Ātman), which is not a produced effect but the seer of all evolution.
This supports tattva-vicāra (contemplation of principles): a yogin traces experience back from sensory qualities (like touch) to their subtle causes, cultivating dispassion and one-pointed meditation—an approach compatible with Kurma Purana’s Yoga-shastra orientation and later Pāśupata-leaning discipline.
Though not naming them, the teaching reflects a shared Purāṇic metaphysics used in both Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava frameworks: the same cosmic order of tattvas is presented as governed by the one supreme Lord (Īśvara), allowing a non-sectarian synthesis characteristic of the Kurma Purana.