Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 3
Lineage of Vyāsas, Division of the Veda, and Vāsudeva/Īśāna as the Veda-Known Supreme
तृतीये चोशना व्यासश्चतुर्थे स्याद् बृहस्पतिः / सविता पञ्चमे व्यासः षष्ठे मृत्युः प्रकीर्तितः
tṛtīye cośanā vyāsaścaturthe syād bṛhaspatiḥ / savitā pañcame vyāsaḥ ṣaṣṭhe mṛtyuḥ prakīrtitaḥ
മൂന്നാമത്തിൽ ഉശനാ വ്യാസൻ; നാലാമത്തിൽ ബൃഹസ്പതി എന്നു സ്മരിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു. അഞ്ചാമത്തിൽ സവിതൃ വ്യാസൻ; ആറാമത്തിൽ മൃത്യുവാണ് പ്രസിദ്ധൻ (വ്യാസരൂപത്തിൽ).
Traditional Purāṇic narrator (Sūta-style narration) describing cosmological succession
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
This verse is primarily cosmological and genealogical: it does not directly define Ātman, but it supports the Purāṇic view that sacred knowledge is periodically re-articulated through appointed Vyāsas across cosmic ages, preserving the path to Self-knowledge.
No specific yoga technique is taught in this verse; its focus is on the continuity of śruti-smṛti transmission. In the Kurma Purana’s broader framework, such transmission undergirds dharma and the disciplines (yama-niyama, devotion, and contemplation) taught elsewhere, including Shaiva-Vaishnava syntheses.
The verse does not explicitly mention Śiva or Viṣṇu; indirectly, it reflects the Purāṇic integrative ethos where cosmic order and dharma are maintained through divinely sanctioned teachers—an outlook compatible with the Kurma Purana’s wider Shaiva-Vaishnava synthesis.