Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 38

Dakṣa-yajña-bhaṅgaḥ — Dadhīci’s Teaching and the Destruction of Dakṣa’s Sacrifice

Devanagari script

सहस्त्रशीर्षपादं च सहस्त्राक्षं महाभुजम् / सहस्त्रपाणिं दुर्धर्षं युगान्तानलसन्निभम्

Transliteration

sahastraśīrṣapādaṃ ca sahastrākṣaṃ mahābhujam / sahastrapāṇiṃ durdharṣaṃ yugāntānalasannibham

Translation

അവൻ സഹസ്ര ശിരസ്സുകളും പാദങ്ങളും ഉള്ളവൻ; സഹസ്ര നേത്രങ്ങളുള്ള മഹാബാഹു; സഹസ്ര ഹസ്തങ്ങളോടെ അജേയനായി, യുഗാന്താഗ്നിയെപ്പോലെ ജ്വലിക്കുന്നു।

Word by Word

• सहस्त्रशीर्षपादम्: having a thousand heads and feet
• सहस्त्रशीर्षपादम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सहस्र-शीर्ष-पाद (प्रातिपदिक; सहस्र=1000 + शीर्ष=head + पाद=foot)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (कर्म), एकवचन; विशेषण (acc. sg. n.)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• सहस्त्राक्षम्: thousand-eyed
• सहस्त्राक्षम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सहस्र-अक्ष (प्रातिपदिक; सहस्र=1000 + अक्ष=eye)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

• महाभुजम्: great-armed
• महाभुजम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा-भुज (प्रातिपदिक; महा=great + भुज=arm)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

• सहस्त्रपाणिम्: thousand-handed
• सहस्त्रपाणिम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सहस्र-पाणि (प्रातिपदिक; सहस्र=1000 + पाणि=hand)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

• दुर्धर्षम्: hard to assail, irresistible
• दुर्धर्षम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दुर्धर्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

• युगान्तानलसन्निभम्: like the fire at the end of an age
• युगान्तानलसन्निभम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: युग-अन्त-अनल-सन्निभ (प्रातिपदिक; युग=age + अन्त=end + अनल=fire + सन्निभ=like)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण

Speaker

Lord Kurma (Vishnu) as the teacher describing the Supreme/Īśvara for contemplation

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: raudra

Characters & Entities

• Kurma
• Vishnu
• Īśvara (Supreme Lord)
• Vishvarūpa (Cosmic Form)

More Details (4 sections)

FAQs

How does this verse explain the nature of the Supreme Self (Atman)?

By portraying the Lord as cosmic and all-pervading (thousand heads, eyes, hands), the verse points to the Supreme as not limited to one body—Īśvara/Ātman is vast, sovereign, and beyond ordinary measures.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

It supports īśvara-dhyāna: steady contemplation of the Lord’s viśvarūpa—invincible and radiant like yugānta fire—so the mind becomes one-pointed (ekāgratā) and devotion (bhakti) deepens into yogic absorption.

How does this verse depict the relationship between Shiva and Vishnu?

The description emphasizes one supreme Īśvara with an all-encompassing form; in the Kurma Purana’s synthesis, such cosmic attributes apply to the single highest reality revered through both Shaiva and Vaishnava idioms.