Shloka 23
Prākṛta-pralaya, Pratisarga Doctrine, and the Ishvara-Samanvaya of Yoga and Devotion
कूटस्थश्चिन्मयो ह्यात्मा केवलः पञ्चविंशकः / गीयते मुनिभिः साक्षी महानेकः पितामहः
kūṭasthaścinmayo hyātmā kevalaḥ pañcaviṃśakaḥ / gīyate munibhiḥ sākṣī mahānekaḥ pitāmahaḥ
कूटस्थ, चिन्मय आत्मा एकाकी और परात्पर है—वही पच्चीसवाँ तत्त्व। मुनि उसे ‘साक्षी’ गाते हैं—वह महान्, एक होकर अनेक रूपों में, आद्य पितामह।
Lord Kūrma (Vishnu) teaching in a syncretic Shaiva–Vaishnava philosophical frame
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
It defines the Ātman as kūṭastha (unchanging) and cinmaya (pure consciousness), the sākṣī (witness) beyond the twenty-four evolutes—i.e., the transcendent twenty-fifth principle.
The verse supports sākṣī-bhāva (witness-attitude) meditation: discerning the immutable conscious Self from prakṛti and its evolutes—an inner discipline aligned with Pāśupata-oriented renunciation and contemplative knowledge taught in the Kurma Purana’s later philosophical sections.
By presenting one supreme Witness-Self that is “one yet appearing as many,” it harmonizes sectarian forms: the same ultimate reality can be praised as Īśvara (often Śiva in Pāśupata idiom) and as Lord Kūrma/Vishnu in the Purāṇic narrative voice.