Shloka 23
Prāyaścitta for Mahāpātakas: Liquor, Theft, Sexual Transgression, Contact with the Fallen, and Homicide
न ह्यन्या निष्कृतिर्दृष्टा मुनिभिर्धर्मवादिभिः / तस्मात् पुण्येषु तीर्थेषु दहेद् वापि स्वदेहकम्
na hyanyā niṣkṛtirdṛṣṭā munibhirdharmavādibhiḥ / tasmāt puṇyeṣu tīrtheṣu dahed vāpi svadehakam
ധർമ്മം ഉപദേശിക്കുന്ന മുനിമാർ ഇതൊഴികെ മറ്റൊരു പ്രായശ്ചിത്തം കണ്ടിട്ടില്ല; അതിനാൽ പുണ്യ തീർത്ഥങ്ങളിൽ സ്വന്തം ദേഹവും അഗ്നിയിൽ അർപ്പിച്ച് ദഹിപ്പിക്കണം।
Traditional narrator (Purāṇic discourse) presenting a Dharma-śāstric injunction within the Kurma Purana’s tīrtha/prāyaścitta context
Primary Rasa: raudra
Secondary Rasa: karuna
FAQs
Indirectly, it frames liberation-oriented purity through radical renunciation: when no lesser expiation remains, surrender of bodily identity at a tīrtha is presented as the final act of detachment—pointing to the Atman as distinct from the perishable body.
No specific āsana or dhyāna is named; the practice emphasized is prāyaścitta through tīrtha-sevā and extreme vairāgya (dispassion). In the Kurma Purana’s broader discipline, such purification supports steadiness for higher Yoga (including Pāśupata-oriented restraint and inner consecration).
It does not name Śiva or Viṣṇu explicitly, but it reflects the Purāṇa’s shared dharma-language: tīrtha, renunciation, and purification are upheld as universal means, compatible with both Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava paths within the Kurma Purana’s synthesis.