Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 34
Cosmic Manifestation, Mahāmāyā’s Mandate, Varṇāśrama-Dharma, and the Unity of the Trimūrti
तासु क्षीणास्वशेषासु कालयोगेन ताः पुनः / वार्तोपायं पुनश्चक्रुर्हस्तसिद्धिं च कर्मजाम् / ततस्तासां विभुर्ब्रह्मा कर्माजीवमकल्पयत्
tāsu kṣīṇāsvaśeṣāsu kālayogena tāḥ punaḥ / vārtopāyaṃ punaścakrurhastasiddhiṃ ca karmajām / tatastāsāṃ vibhurbrahmā karmājīvamakalpayat
കാലയോഗത്താൽ അവയെല്ലാം പൂർണ്ണമായി ക്ഷയിച്ചപ്പോൾ, അവർ വീണ്ടും ഉപജീവനമാർഗം ആവിഷ്കരിച്ചു—വാർത്താ (കൃഷി/വ്യാപാരം)യും കർമജന്യമായ കൈപ്പണി-സിദ്ധിയും. തുടർന്ന് സർവ്വശക്തനായ ബ്രഹ്മാവ് അവർക്കു കർമാധിഷ്ഠിതമായ ആജീവിക നിശ്ചയിച്ചു।
Sūta (narrator) conveying the Purāṇic account of early social order under Brahmā
Primary Rasa: vira
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
Indirectly: it frames embodied life as governed by Kāla (Time) and Karma (action), implying that spiritual realization requires seeing the Self as distinct from changing economic conditions and work-based identity.
No explicit meditation is taught in this verse; it supports the Kurma Purana’s broader yoga-ethic that disciplined karma (right livelihood and duty) stabilizes society and becomes a foundation for higher practices like Pāśupata-oriented restraint, purity, and contemplation taught elsewhere.
This verse is administrative/cosmic rather than sectarian: Brahmā institutes karmic livelihood under the law of Time and action—principles that the Kurma Purana later integrates within a unified Shaiva–Vaishnava framework where dharma and yoga culminate in the one Supreme.