Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 58

Īśvara-Gītā (continued): Twofold Yoga, Aṣṭāṅga Discipline, Pāśupata Meditation, and the Unity of Nārāyaṇa–Maheśvara

Devanagari script

चिन्तयेत् तत्र विमलं परं ज्योतिर्यदक्षरम् / तस्मिन् ज्योतिषि विन्यस्यस्वात्मानं तदभेदतः

Transliteration

cintayet tatra vimalaṃ paraṃ jyotiryadakṣaram / tasmin jyotiṣi vinyasyasvātmānaṃ tadabhedataḥ

Translation

そこで、汚れなき至上の光、滅びぬ不朽の光を観想せよ。さらに、その光の中に己が自己を安置し、それと不二なる境地に住すべし。

Word by Word

• cintayet: one should contemplate
• cintayet: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √cint (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• tatra: there/in that (lotus)
• tatra: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb: there/in that)

• vimalam: pure
• vimalam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vimala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• param: supreme
• param: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• jyotiḥ: light
• jyotiḥ: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jyotis (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन (visarga-stem)

• yat: which
• yat: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सम्बन्ध-सर्वनाम (relative) — here qualifying akṣaram

• akṣaram: the imperishable (Brahman)
• akṣaram: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: akṣara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; jyotiḥ इत्यस्य विशेष्य-सम्बन्धः (appositional)

• tasmin: in that
• tasmin: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• jyotiṣi: in the light
• jyotiṣi: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jyotis (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• vinyasya: having placed
• vinyasya: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi-√nyas (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्ययकृदन्त (Gerund/Absolutive) = ‘having placed/established’

• sva-ātmānam: one’s own self
• sva-ātmānam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sva + ātman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष-प्रायः (svaḥ ātmā) = ‘one’s own self’

• tad-abhedataḥ: as (being) non-different from that
• tad-abhedataḥ: Hetu/Prakāra (हेतु/प्रकार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tad + abheda + tas (प्रातिपदिक/तद्धित)
• Form: अव्यय; तसिल्-प्रत्ययान्त (Ablatival adverb: ‘from/as by’); अव्ययीभावः = ‘as non-different from that’

Speaker

Lord Kurma (Vishnu) instructing King Indradyumna within the Ishvara Gita teaching sequence

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Characters & Entities

• Kurma
• Ishvara (Supreme Lord)
• Akshara (Imperishable Brahman)

More Details (4 sections)

FAQs

How does this verse explain the nature of the Supreme Self (Atman)?

It presents the Supreme as the imperishable, stainless Light (akṣara-jyotis) and instructs the meditator to realize the Atman by establishing oneself in identity (abheda) with that Supreme radiance.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

It teaches dhyāna focused on the akṣara-jyotis (imperishable Light) and a contemplative absorption where the practitioner ‘places’ the self in that reality—an Advaitic culmination consistent with the Kurma Purana’s Pāśupata-oriented discipline of inner purification and one-pointed meditation.

How does this verse depict the relationship between Shiva and Vishnu?

By defining the goal as the imperishable Supreme Light beyond sectarian form, it supports the Kurma Purana’s Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis: the highest Ishvara is realized as one non-dual reality, approachable through shared yogic contemplation.