Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 15
Prākṛta-pralaya, Pratisarga Doctrine, and the Ishvara-Samanvaya of Yoga and Devotion
स वारितत्त्वं सगुणं ग्रसते हव्यवाहनः / तेजस्तु गुणसंयुक्तं वायौ संयाति संक्षयम्
sa vāritattvaṃ saguṇaṃ grasate havyavāhanaḥ / tejastu guṇasaṃyuktaṃ vāyau saṃyāti saṃkṣayam
तब हव्यवाहन अग्नि जल-तत्त्व को उसके गुणों सहित निगल लेती है; और अग्नि का तेज भी गुणों से संयुक्त होकर वायु में मिलकर क्षय (प्रलय) को प्राप्त होता है।
Narratorial exposition within the Purāṇic teaching (elemental dissolution section; traditionally delivered as part of the sage-to-sage narration framework of the Kurma Purana)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
By describing how even the subtle elements (water, fire, wind) and their guṇas are re-absorbed, the verse implies that the true Self is not any element or quality; it is the witness beyond guṇa and tattva, untouched by dissolution.
The verse aligns with bhūta-saṃhāra (inner re-absorption of elements) used in Śaiva-Pāśupata and allied yogic contemplations: the practitioner mentally dissolves gross into subtle—water into fire, fire into wind—moving toward guṇa-transcendence and steadiness in the inner witness.
Though Shiva and Vishnu are not named here, the teaching reflects the Kurma Purana’s shared metaphysical ground: one supreme reality teaches a common yogic-cosmological process where all tattvas and guṇas return to their source, supporting a non-sectarian (Śaiva–Vaiṣṇava) synthesis.