Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 61
Prākṛta Sṛṣṭi and Pralaya: From Pradhāna to Brahmāṇḍa; Trimūrti Samanvaya
नराणामयनो यस्मात् तेन नारायणः स्मृतः / हरः संसारहरणाद् विभुत्वाद् विष्णुरुच्यते
narāṇāmayano yasmāt tena nārāyaṇaḥ smṛtaḥ / haraḥ saṃsāraharaṇād vibhutvād viṣṇurucyate
जिससे समस्त नर-प्राणियों का आश्रय और परम गन्तव्य (अयन) है, इसलिए वह ‘नारायण’ स्मृत है। संसार का हरण करने से वह ‘हर’ कहलाता है; और अपनी सर्वव्यापक विभुता से ‘विष्णु’ कहा जाता है।
Narratorial/teachings section of the Kurma Purana (definitional praise of the Supreme as Hari–Hara)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
It presents the Supreme as the single, all-pervading Lord who becomes known through functional epithets—refuge (Nārāyaṇa), remover of bondage (Hara), and pervasive majesty (Viṣṇu)—indicating one reality described through different powers.
The verse is not a technical yoga-instruction, but it supplies a meditative support (ālambana): contemplation on the Lord as the refuge and as the remover of saṁsāra, aligning devotion and discernment toward liberation—an orientation consistent with later Pāśupata-leaning soteriology in the Kurma tradition.
By pairing Hara (Śiva) and Viṣṇu/Nārāyaṇa as names grounded in the same liberating and all-pervading sovereignty, it implies a synthetic, non-sectarian vision where Hari and Hara signify one supreme Īśvara through different aspects.