Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 13
The True Liṅga as Formless Brahman — Self-Luminous Īśa and the Yoga of Liberation
न तत्र सूर्यः प्रविभातीह चन्द्रो न नक्षत्राणि तपनो नोत विद्युत् / तद्भासेदमखिलं भाति नित्यं तन्नित्यभासमचलं सद्विभाति
na tatra sūryaḥ pravibhātīha candro na nakṣatrāṇi tapano nota vidyut / tadbhāsedamakhilaṃ bhāti nityaṃ tannityabhāsamacalaṃ sadvibhāti
ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಸೂರ್ಯನು ಪ್ರಕಾಶಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ, ಚಂದ್ರನೂ ಅಲ್ಲ, ನಕ್ಷತ್ರಗಳೂ ಅಲ್ಲ; ಮಿಂಚೂ ಅಲ್ಲ, ಲೋಕಾಗ್ನಿಯೂ ಅಲ್ಲ. ಆ ಪರಮ ಜ್ಯೋತಿಯ ಬೆಳಕಿನಿಂದಲೇ ಎಲ್ಲವೂ ನಿತ್ಯ ಪ್ರಕಾಶಿಸುತ್ತದೆ; ಆ ಅಚಲ ಸ್ವಯಂಜ್ಯೋತಿ ಮಾತ್ರ ಸತ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಹೊಳೆಯುತ್ತದೆ.
Lord Kurma (Vishnu) instructing King Indradyumna in the Ishvara Gita
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
It declares the Atman/Brahman as self-luminous (svayaṃ-prakāśa): not revealed by external lights like sun or moon, but the very light by which all experience and the entire world appear.
It supports inward-turning meditation (pratyāhāra and dhyāna) central to the Kurma Purana’s Ishvara Gita: withdraw attention from sensory “lights” and contemplate the changeless, self-revealing consciousness as the true illuminator.
By focusing on the one self-luminous Īśvara beyond all cosmic luminaries, it aligns Shaiva and Vaishnava language into a single non-dual principle—one Supreme Reality praised through different divine names and forms.