Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 21
Kapardeśvara at Piśācamocana — Liberation of a Piśāca and the Brahmapāra Hymn
तस्मै पिशाचः क्षुधया पीड्यमानो ऽब्रवीद् वचः / पूर्वजन्मन्यहं विप्रो धनधान्यसमन्वितः / पुत्रपौत्रादिभिर्युक्तः कुटुम्बभरणोत्सुकः
tasmai piśācaḥ kṣudhayā pīḍyamāno 'bravīd vacaḥ / pūrvajanmanyahaṃ vipro dhanadhānyasamanvitaḥ / putrapautrādibhiryuktaḥ kuṭumbabharaṇotsukaḥ
飢えに責められるピシャーチャは彼に告げた。「前生において我は婆羅門であり、財と穀物に恵まれ、子や孫らに囲まれ、家族を養うことに心を砕いていた。」
Piśāca (speaking to a virtuous interlocutor in the narrative frame of Kurma Purana Purva-bhaga)
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: bibhatsa
FAQs
Indirectly: by highlighting rebirth and changing identities (brāhmaṇa to piśāca), it implies the enduring moral law of karma across lives, against which the Self is understood as distinct from transient social status and bodily condition.
No explicit yoga practice is taught in this verse; it functions as a karmic preface. In Kurma Purana’s broader Shaiva-Vaishnava synthesis, such accounts motivate vairāgya (dispassion) and dharma-based self-discipline, which support later yogic and devotional instruction.
It does not directly address Shiva–Vishnu unity; instead it sets an ethical-karmic backdrop typical of the Kurma Purana, within which later teachings integrate devotion and liberation across Shaiva and Vaishnava frames.