Īśvara-gītā (Adhyāya 2) — Ātma-svarūpa, Māyā, and the Unity of Sāṅkhya–Yoga
ज्ञानस्वूपमेवाहुर्जगदेतद् विचक्षणाः / अर्थस्वरूपमेवाज्ञाः पश्यन्त्यन्ये कुदृष्टयः
jñānasvūpamevāhurjagadetad vicakṣaṇāḥ / arthasvarūpamevājñāḥ paśyantyanye kudṛṣṭayaḥ
Orang bijaksana menyatakan bahwa jagat ini berhakikat jñāna (kesadaran). Namun yang bodoh—berpandangan keliru—melihatnya semata sebagai artha, yakni kebendaan belaka.
Lord Kūrma (Vishnu) teaching in the Ishvara Gita context
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: raudra
It implies that reality is fundamentally consciousness: the wise recognize the world as jñāna-svarūpa, aligning perception with the Self, while ignorance reduces experience to mere objecthood.
The verse points to jñāna-yoga/ātma-vicāra as the core discipline: refining dṛṣṭi (vision) through discrimination (viveka) so the practitioner ceases to reify the world as only artha and recognizes consciousness as primary—an orientation consistent with Pāśupata-style inner transformation taught in the Kurma Purana.
By emphasizing a single consciousness as the ground of the world, it supports the Kurma Purana’s synthetic stance: the supreme reality praised as Īśvara can be approached through both Shaiva and Vaishnava idioms without contradiction.