Shloka 33
Śrāddha-Kāla-Nirṇaya: Proper Times, Nakṣatra Fruits, Tīrtha Merit, and Offerings for Ancestral Rites
गङ्गाद्वारे प्रभासे च बिल्वके नीलपर्वते / कुरुक्षेत्रे च कुब्जाम्रे भृगुतुङ्गे महालये
gaṅgādvāre prabhāse ca bilvake nīlaparvate / kurukṣetre ca kubjāmre bhṛgutuṅge mahālaye
ഗംഗാദ്വാരം (ഹരിദ്വാർ), പ്രഭാസം, ബിൽവകം, നീലപർവതം, കുരുക്ഷേത്രം, കുബ്ജാമ്രം, ഭൃഗുതുങ്ഗം, മഹാലയം—ഇവയെല്ലാം പ്രസിദ്ധ പുണ്യതീർത്ഥങ്ങളാണ്।
Sūta (narrator) conveying the Kurma Purana’s tirtha-listing in the ongoing discourse
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
This verse is primarily a tirtha-catalogue; it supports dharma through pilgrimage rather than directly defining Ātman. In the Kurma Purana’s larger framework, such tirthas are external supports that prepare the mind for inner purification and realization taught elsewhere (including the Ishvara Gita).
No specific āsana, prāṇāyāma, or Pāśupata-vrata is stated in this line; the implied practice is tirtha-sevā—pilgrimage, bathing, and worship at sanctified sites—used as a discipline of purification (śuddhi) that complements later yogic and devotional instructions in the Purana.
The verse names pan-Indian tirthas revered across sects; in the Kurma Purana’s synthesis, such sacred geography functions as shared dharma-space where both Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava modes of worship operate without contradiction, orienting the devotee toward one Supreme Reality approached through multiple forms.