Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 50
Madhu–Kaiṭabha, Nārāyaṇa’s Yoga-Nidrā, Rudra’s Manifestation, and the Aṣṭamūrti–Trimūrti Teaching
नमो दिग्वाससे तुभ्यं नमो मुण्डाया दण्डिने / अनादिमलहीनाय ज्ञानगम्याय ते नमः
namo digvāsase tubhyaṃ namo muṇḍāyā daṇḍine / anādimalahīnāya jñānagamyāya te namaḥ
十方を衣とする御方に帰命し奉る。剃髪し杖を執る行者なる御方に帰命し奉る。無始にして垢なき御方、真の智によってのみ到達し得る御方に帰命し奉る。
A devotee/sage offering a stotra within the Kurma Purana’s Shaiva–Vaishnava theological frame (addressing the Supreme as Rudra-Narayana)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
It portrays the Supreme as beginningless and stainless (anādi, mala-hīna), not grasped by ritual externals but realized through jñāna—implying an inner, transcendental Self beyond impurity and origin.
The imagery of the sky-clad, staff-bearing ascetic points to renunciation (vairāgya), discipline (daṇḍa), and inward contemplation—classical supports for Pāśupata-oriented practice where knowledge-realization is primary.
By venerating ascetic Rudra-like attributes while affirming the Supreme as knowable through jñāna, it aligns with the Kurma Purana’s integrative stance where Rudra and Narayana are treated as one supreme reality approached through devotion and knowledge.