Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 25
Lineage of Vyāsas, Division of the Veda, and Vāsudeva/Īśāna as the Veda-Known Supreme
इत्येदक्षरं वेद्यमोङ्कारं वेदमव्ययम् / अवेदं च विजानाति पाराशर्यो महामुनिः
ityedakṣaraṃ vedyamoṅkāraṃ vedamavyayam / avedaṃ ca vijānāti pārāśaryo mahāmuniḥ
ഇങ്ങനെ മഹാമുനി പാരാശര്യൻ ജ്ഞേയമായ അവിനാശി അക്ഷരം ‘ഓംകാര’മാണെന്നും അതേ അവ്യയ വേദമാണെന്നും അറിയുന്നു; സത്യ വൈദികജ്ഞാനത്തിന് പുറത്തുള്ളതിനെ ‘അവേദം’ എന്നും അവൻ തിരിച്ചറിയുന്നു।
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator describing Pārāśarya/Vyāsa’s discernment)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
It identifies the knowable Imperishable (akṣara)—a standard marker for the Supreme reality/Ātman-Brahman—as Oṁ (Praṇava), presenting the Supreme as directly approachable through the mantra that embodies Vedic revelation.
Praṇava-upāsanā is implied: meditation on Oṁkāra as the imperishable essence of the Veda, a mantra-centered contemplative practice aligned with Yoga-śāstra where sound (śabda) becomes a support for realizing the akṣara.
By grounding ultimate knowledge in the impersonal Praṇava (Oṁ) and the akṣara, it supports the Kurma Purana’s non-sectarian synthesis: the Supreme indicated by Oṁ can be approached through both Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava frames without contradiction.