Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 17
Time-Reckoning (Kāla-gaṇanā): Yugas, Manvantaras, Kalpas, and Prākṛta Pralaya
तस्यान्ते सर्वतत्त्वानां स्वहेतौ प्रकृतौ लयः / तेनायं प्रोच्यते सद्भिः प्राकृतः प्रतिसंचरः
tasyānte sarvatattvānāṃ svahetau prakṛtau layaḥ / tenāyaṃ procyate sadbhiḥ prākṛtaḥ pratisaṃcaraḥ
उस चक्र के अंत में समस्त तत्त्व अपने ही कारण-रूप प्रकृति में लीन हो जाते हैं। इसलिए सत्पुरुष इस प्रक्रिया को ‘प्राकृत प्रतिसंचर’—अर्थात् मूल प्रकृति में प्रत्यावर्तन—कहते हैं।
Narrator/Sage (Purāṇic discourse tradition; teaching cosmology to the listener)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: karuna
FAQs
By describing the dissolution of all tattvas into Prakṛti, the verse implies that the changing cosmos is reversible and contingent; the Atman/Supreme is understood (in the Purāṇic-Yogic view) as distinct from these dissolving categories—witnessing and transcendent to material involution.
This verse is doctrinal rather than procedural: it supports Yoga-viveka (discriminative insight) by mapping how the tattvas resolve back into their cause. Such cosmological discernment is used in meditation to detach from evolutes (body-mind-world) and turn awareness toward the unchanging spiritual principle.
Indirectly: it frames dissolution in a shared metaphysical language (tattvas, Prakṛti, laya) that both Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava traditions employ. The Kurma Purāṇa often uses this common Yoga-Sāṃkhya framework to harmonize sectarian viewpoints under one cosmic order.