Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 15
Lineage of Vyāsas, Division of the Veda, and Vāsudeva/Īśāna as the Veda-Known Supreme
एक आसीद्यजुर्वेदस्तं चतुर्धा व्यकल्पयत् / चातुर्हेत्रमभूद् यस्मिंस्तेन यज्ञमथाकरोत्
eka āsīdyajurvedastaṃ caturdhā vyakalpayat / cāturhetramabhūd yasmiṃstena yajñamathākarot
पूर्वी काळी यजुर्वेद एकच संहिता होता; नंतर तो चार भागांत विभागला गेला. त्या विभागणीमुळे चातुर्होत्र—चार ऋत्विजांची व्यवस्था—उद्भवली आणि तिच्या साहाय्याने यज्ञकर्म विधिपूर्वक पार पडले।
Purāṇic narrator (traditional Vyāsa-sūta style), describing Vedic-ritual organization
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
Indirectly: it presents dharma through Vedic order—revealed knowledge structured for right action (yajña). In the Kurma Purana’s larger synthesis, such ordered karma becomes a support for inner purification that culminates in Self-knowledge (ātma-jñāna), though this particular verse focuses on the external framework.
No explicit yogic technique is taught in this verse; it emphasizes the disciplined performance of yajña via the cāturhotra system. In Kurma Purana’s broader teaching, this kind of regulated karma functions as a preparatory limb—stabilizing conduct and mind—before the more explicit Pāśupata-yoga and contemplative instructions found later (notably in the Upari-bhāga’s Ishvara Gītā context).
It does not name Śiva or Viṣṇu directly; it highlights Vedic yajña as a shared dharmic ground. In the Kurma Purana’s Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis, such Vedic foundations are honored as common authority, with devotion and liberation-oriented yoga later harmonized under one supreme principle.