Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 23
Īśvara-gītā: Antaryāmin, Kāla, and the Divine Ordinance Governing Creation, Preservation, and Pralaya
यः प्रशास्ता ह्यसाधूनां वर्तते नियमादिह / यमो वैवस्वतो देवो देवदेवनियोगतः
yaḥ praśāstā hyasādhūnāṃ vartate niyamādiha / yamo vaivasvato devo devadevaniyogataḥ
この世において不義の者を懲らし、定められた規律によって抑制を執り行う者――それがヤマ、神ヴァイヴァスヴァタであり、神々の主によってその職に任ぜられたのである。
Narrator/Sage (Purāṇic discourse voice describing cosmic administration of Dharma)
Primary Rasa: raudra
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
It implies a supreme ordainer (“Devadeva”) whose governance manifests through appointed cosmic powers like Yama; the Self is not random fate but lives within an ordered moral cosmos where karma is administered.
The verse points to niyama (disciplined restraint) as a spiritual principle: inner self-regulation aligns one with Dharma and reduces the karmic conditions that lead to Yama’s chastisement.
By using the title “Devadeva” as the supreme commissioner behind Yama’s role, the verse supports the Purāṇic non-sectarian vision where the highest Lord—understood by Shaivas as Śiva and by Vaiṣṇavas as Viṣṇu—governs the same cosmic order.