Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 16
Naimittika-pralaya and the Theology of Kāla: Seven Suns, Saṃvartaka Fire, Flood, and Varāha Kalpa
ततस्ते रश्मयः सप्त सूर्या भूत्वा चतुर्दिशम् / चतुर्लोकमिदं सर्वं दहन्ति शिखिनस्तथा
tataste raśmayaḥ sapta sūryā bhūtvā caturdiśam / caturlokamidaṃ sarvaṃ dahanti śikhinastathā
પછી તે કિરણો સાત સૂર્ય બની ચારેય દિશામાં પ્રજ્વલિત થયા; અને અગ્નિની જ્વાળાની જીભ જેવી રીતે આ સમગ્ર ચતુર્લોકને દહન કરવા લાગ્યા।
Narrator (Purāṇic discourse tradition; likely Vyāsa’s narration to sages in this section)
Primary Rasa: raudra
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
By depicting the fourfold world as burnable and perishable, the verse implies that all manifest realms are transient; the Atman (and the Supreme Lord as inner Self) is understood as the unburnt witness beyond cosmic dissolution.
The imagery supports vairāgya (dispassion) and dhyāna on anityatā (impermanence): meditating on pralaya reduces clinging to loka-bound aims and turns the mind toward īśvara-bhakti and inner steadiness central to Kurma Purana’s Yoga-shāstra orientation.
While not naming them directly, the pralaya motif aligns with the Purana’s non-sectarian synthesis: dissolution is an act of the one Supreme Īśvara revered through both Shaiva and Vaishnava lenses, encouraging unity rather than rivalry in devotion.