Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 27
Karma-yoga Discipline for the Twice-born: Upanayana, Upavīta Conduct, Guru-veneration, and Alms-regimen
माता मातामही गुर्वो पितुर्मातुश्च सोदराः / श्वश्रूः पितामहीज्येष्ठा धात्री च गुरवः स्त्रियः
mātā mātāmahī gurvo piturmātuśca sodarāḥ / śvaśrūḥ pitāmahījyeṣṭhā dhātrī ca guravaḥ striyaḥ
માતા અને માતામહી (નાની) ગુરુ સમાન પૂજ્ય છે; તેમજ પિતા અને માતાની સહોદરા બહેનો પણ. ઉપરાંત શ્વશ્રૂ (સાસુ), પિતામહીઓમાં જેઠી, અને ધાત્રી (પાલન કરનાર ધાય)—આ સ્ત્રીઓ પણ ગુરુ ગણાય છે।
Sūta (narrator) conveying the Kurma Purana’s dharma-teaching context
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: karuna
FAQs
Indirectly: it grounds spiritual life in dharma—cultivating humility and reverence toward those who embody care and guidance, which supports inner purification needed for Self-knowledge taught elsewhere in the Kurma Purana.
No technique is named; the verse emphasizes ethical discipline (yama-like foundations)—honoring and serving one’s gurus, especially maternal elders—seen as preparatory conduct that stabilizes the mind for mantra, worship, and contemplative practice described in the Purana’s yoga-oriented sections.
It does not directly discuss Shiva–Vishnu unity; it supports the shared dharmic framework within which the Kurma Purana’s Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis operates—reverence to gurus and elders as a universal prerequisite for devotion and liberation.