Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 13
The True Liṅga as Formless Brahman — Self-Luminous Īśa and the Yoga of Liberation
न तत्र सूर्यः प्रविभातीह चन्द्रो न नक्षत्राणि तपनो नोत विद्युत् / तद्भासेदमखिलं भाति नित्यं तन्नित्यभासमचलं सद्विभाति
na tatra sūryaḥ pravibhātīha candro na nakṣatrāṇi tapano nota vidyut / tadbhāsedamakhilaṃ bhāti nityaṃ tannityabhāsamacalaṃ sadvibhāti
तेथे सूर्य प्रकाशत नाही, चंद्रही नाही, नक्षत्रेही नाहीत; वीज नाही, लौकिक अग्नीही नाही. त्याच्याच तेजाने हे सर्व नित्य उजळते; तो अचल, स्वयंज्योती सदैव प्रकाशतो.
Lord Kurma (Vishnu) instructing King Indradyumna in the Ishvara Gita
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
It declares the Atman/Brahman as self-luminous (svayaṃ-prakāśa): not revealed by external lights like sun or moon, but the very light by which all experience and the entire world appear.
It supports inward-turning meditation (pratyāhāra and dhyāna) central to the Kurma Purana’s Ishvara Gita: withdraw attention from sensory “lights” and contemplate the changeless, self-revealing consciousness as the true illuminator.
By focusing on the one self-luminous Īśvara beyond all cosmic luminaries, it aligns Shaiva and Vaishnava language into a single non-dual principle—one Supreme Reality praised through different divine names and forms.