Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 33
Divine Abodes on the Mountains — A Sacred Survey of Jambūdvīpa
Kailāsa to Siddha Realms
अध्यास्ते देवगन्धर्वसिद्धचारणवन्दिता / विचिन्त्य जगतोयोनिं स्वशक्तिकिरणोज्ज्वला
adhyāste devagandharvasiddhacāraṇavanditā / vicintya jagatoyoniṃ svaśaktikiraṇojjvalā
वह देवी देव, गन्धर्व, सिद्ध और चारणों से वन्दित होकर विराजती है; जगत् की योनि-रूप मूल-कारण का चिन्तन करती हुई अपनी स्वशक्ति की किरणों से दीप्त है।
Purana-narrator (traditional sūta-style narration describing the Devi/Śakti principle)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
By presenting the cosmic source (jagad-yoni) as an object of deep contemplation and as intrinsically radiant through its own Śakti, the verse implies a self-luminous, self-sustaining reality—an Atman/Brahman-like ground that does not borrow its light from anything else.
The key practice is vicāra/dhyāna—steady contemplation (vicintya) on the jagad-yoni, the origin of all manifestation. This aligns with Purāṇic Yoga where meditating on the source-principle (often identified with Īśvara together with Śakti) stabilizes the mind and reveals the inner radiance (kiraṇojjvalā).
While not naming Śiva or Viṣṇu directly, it uses a synthesis-friendly theology: the supreme source is contemplated as luminous through Śakti, a framework shared across Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava Purāṇas—supporting the Kurma Purana’s non-sectarian tendency to view ultimate reality as Īśvara with inseparable power (Śakti).