Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 12
Puṣkara-dvīpa, Lokāloka, and the Measure of the Brahmāṇḍa
Cosmic Egg
तस्याः परेण शैलस्तु मर्यादात्मात्ममण्डलः / प्रकाशश्चाप्रकाशश्च लोकालोकः स उच्यते
tasyāḥ pareṇa śailastu maryādātmātmamaṇḍalaḥ / prakāśaścāprakāśaśca lokālokaḥ sa ucyate
അതിന്റെ അപ്പുറം ഒരു പർവതം നിലകൊള്ളുന്നു; അത് ആത്മമണ്ഡലത്തെ ചുറ്റിയുള്ള മર્યാദാരൂപ അതിരാണ്. അത് പ്രകാശമുള്ളതും പ്രകാശമില്ലാത്തതും ആകയാൽ ‘ലോകാലോക’ എന്നു വിളിക്കുന്നു.
Sūta (narrator) recounting the Purāṇic cosmography as taught in the Kurma Purana
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
By calling the cosmic boundary an “ātma-maṇḍala” (sphere of the Self), the verse hints that the ordered cosmos is enclosed within a principled limit—suggesting an intelligible, law-like structure grounded in Self/inner reality rather than randomness.
No specific technique is named, but the imagery of “maryādā” (boundary) supports Yogic discipline: mastery arises through setting limits—restraining the senses and distinguishing illumination (prakāśa) from obscuration (aprakāśa), a foundational contemplative discrimination.
The verse is cosmographic rather than sectarian; its boundary-of-light teaching aligns with the Kurma Purana’s synthesis where cosmic order (often expressed through Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava idioms elsewhere) is one dharmic reality, not competing absolutes.