Shloka 27
Naimittika-pralaya and the Theology of Kāla: Seven Suns, Saṃvartaka Fire, Flood, and Varāha Kalpa
समुद्रेभ्यो नदीभ्यश्च पातालेभ्यश्च सर्वशः / पिबन्नपः समिद्धो ऽग्निः पृथिवीमाश्रितो ज्वलन्
samudrebhyo nadībhyaśca pātālebhyaśca sarvaśaḥ / pibannapaḥ samiddho 'gniḥ pṛthivīmāśrito jvalan
પૃથ્વી પર આશ્રિત થઈ જ્વલંત સમિદ્ધ અગ્નિ, સમુદ્રો, નદીઓ અને પાતાળમાંથી સર્વ દિશાઓનું જળ પી ગયો।
Narrator (Purāṇic narration within the Kurma Purana’s cosmological account)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
FAQs
By portraying Fire consuming all waters everywhere, the verse points to pralaya—where elements withdraw into subtler causes—hinting that the enduring reality is the inner Self beyond changing elements.
This verse is primarily cosmological, but it supports a yogic contemplation on impermanence (anityatā) and dissolution (laya): the practitioner reflects on the reabsorption of the elements to detach from sensory fixations and turn toward the witnessing Self.
Though not naming Shiva or Vishnu directly, the imagery of cosmic dissolution aligns with Purāṇic non-dual synthesis: the same supreme governance can be expressed through different divine functions—preservation and dissolution—without asserting a real contradiction between Shaiva and Vaishnava frames.