Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 72
Adhyāya 25 — Liṅga-māhātmya (The Chapter on the Liṅga): Hari’s Śiva-Worship and the Fiery Pillar Theophany
कस्त्वं कुतो वा किं चेह तिष्ठसे वह मे प्रभो / अहं कर्ता हि लोकानां स्वयंभूः प्रपितामहः
kastvaṃ kuto vā kiṃ ceha tiṣṭhase vaha me prabho / ahaṃ kartā hi lokānāṃ svayaṃbhūḥ prapitāmahaḥ
‘ನೀನು ಯಾರು? ಎಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಬಂದೆ, ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಏಕೆ ನಿಂತಿರುವೆ? ಪ್ರಭೋ, ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಹೊತ್ತುಕೊಂಡು ಹೋಗು. ನಾನು ಲೋಕಗಳ ಕರ್ತಾ—ಸ್ವಯಂಭೂ, ಪ್ರಪಿತಾಮಹ.’
Brahma (Svayambhu, Prapitamaha)
Primary Rasa: vira
Secondary Rasa: hasya
FAQs
It presents Brahmā’s cosmic role as “creator,” but by using titles like Svayambhū it also hints that cosmic functions arise from a higher self-existent principle—an idea later harmonized in the Kurma Purana through devotion and yoga toward the Supreme Lord beyond mere cosmic office.
No direct practice is taught in this verse; it is narrative and cosmological. In the Kurma Purana’s broader teaching, such claims of agency are ultimately integrated into disciplined yoga (including Pāśupata-oriented restraint and devotion) where egoic doership is refined into surrender to Īśvara.
Indirectly: it shows a creator figure asserting authority within the cosmic hierarchy, a theme the Kurma Purana often resolves by subordinating all cosmic roles (including Brahmā’s) to the Supreme—expressed through Shaiva–Vaishnava unity where the highest reality is not limited to one functional deity.