Shloka 78
Madhu–Kaiṭabha, Nārāyaṇa’s Yoga-Nidrā, Rudra’s Manifestation, and the Aṣṭamūrti–Trimūrti Teaching
ब्रह्मविष्णुशिवा ब्रह्मन् सर्गस्थित्यन्तहेतवः / विभज्यात्मानमेको ऽपि स्वेच्छया शङ्करः स्थितः
brahmaviṣṇuśivā brahman sargasthityantahetavaḥ / vibhajyātmānameko 'pi svecchayā śaṅkaraḥ sthitaḥ
ഹേ ബ്രഹ്മൻ! ബ്രഹ്മാ, വിഷ്ണു, ശിവൻ—ഇവർ സൃഷ്ടി, സ്ഥിതി, അന്തം എന്നിവയുടെ ഹേതുക്കൾ. എങ്കിലും പ്രഭു ഒരുവനായിട്ടും, സ്വേച്ഛയാൽ ആത്മവിഭാഗം ചെയ്ത് ശങ്കരരൂപത്തിൽ നിലകൊള്ളുന്നു।
Lord Kurma (Vishnu) teaching in the Ishvara Gita context
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
It presents the Supreme as one Reality that can appear as multiple divine functions—creation, preservation, and dissolution—without losing its essential oneness; the many forms arise by the Lord’s own will.
The verse supports Ishvara-centered contemplation: meditation on the one Lord who manifests as the triad of cosmic functions, a theistic-nondual orientation aligned with the Kurma Purana’s Pashupata-leaning devotion and inner recognition of one Ishvara.
It frames Śiva (Śaṅkara) and Viṣṇu not as competing absolutes but as expressions within a single supreme principle; the Purana’s synthesis treats their powers as unified under one Ishvara.