Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 14
Iśvara on Māyā, the Unmanifest, and the Viśvarūpa of the One Supreme
यस्मात् परं नापरमस्ति किञ्चित् यज्ज्योतिषां ज्योतिरेकं दिविस्थम् / तदेवात्मानं मन्यमानो ऽथ विद्वान् आत्मानन्दी भवति ब्रह्मभूतः
yasmāt paraṃ nāparamasti kiñcit yajjyotiṣāṃ jyotirekaṃ divistham / tadevātmānaṃ manyamāno 'tha vidvān ātmānandī bhavati brahmabhūtaḥ
彼を超えて高きものはなく、また他なるものもない――諸光の光たる唯一の光が、至高の天に住する。彼こそ我がアートマンと知る賢者は、自己の歓喜に満ち、梵の境地に至る。
Lord Kurma (Vishnu) teaching in the Ishvara Gita context
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
It declares the Supreme as the unsurpassed “Light of lights” and teaches that realizing this Supreme Reality as one’s own Atman results in brahma-bhāva—abidance in Brahman.
The verse points to jñāna-yoga: contemplative discernment and steady meditation culminating in Atman-identification with the Supreme Light, yielding ātmānanda (Self-bliss) and Brahman-abidance—an inner core also compatible with Pāśupata-oriented discipline in the Kurma Purana.
Rather than emphasizing sectarian difference, it centers on the one Supreme Reality (Brahman/Atman) as the ultimate “Light,” a non-dual framing that supports the Kurma Purana’s Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis where the highest truth transcends names and forms.