Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 18
Yuga-Dharma: The Four Ages, Decline of Dharma, and the Rise of Social Order
ब्रह्मा कृतयुगे देवस्त्रेतायां भगवान् रविः / द्वापरे दैवतं विष्णुः कलौ रुद्रो महेश्वरः
brahmā kṛtayuge devastretāyāṃ bhagavān raviḥ / dvāpare daivataṃ viṣṇuḥ kalau rudro maheśvaraḥ
Pada Kṛta Yuga, Brahmā menjadi dewa pemimpin; pada Tretā, Bhagavān Ravi (Surya) adalah Tuhan. Pada Dvāpara, Viṣṇu adalah dewa yang dipuja; dan pada Kali Yuga, Rudra—Maheśvara—menjadi Tuhan pemimpin.
Sūta (narrator) to the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya (contextual narrator voice in Purāṇic transmission)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
It implies one supreme sacred order manifesting through different presiding forms across the yugas; the focus shifts in worshipful emphasis, while divinity remains the ultimate ground behind these forms.
The verse itself is primarily theological (devatā-krama), but it supports a yuga-appropriate sādhana principle: align devotion, discipline, and worship with the dominant spiritual conditions of the age—an idea later systematized in the Kurma Purana’s Shaiva-leaning yogic and dharmic instructions.
By placing Viṣṇu as central in Dvāpara and Rudra-Maheśvara as central in Kali, it frames devotion as complementary rather than sectarian, consistent with the Kurma Purana’s tendency toward Shaiva-Vaishnava synthesis.