Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 19
Śrāddha-Kāla-Nirṇaya: Proper Times, Nakṣatra Fruits, Tīrtha Merit, and Offerings for Ancestral Rites
षष्ट्यां द्यूतं कृषिं चापि सप्तम्यां लभते नरः / अष्टम्यामपि वाणिज्यं लभते श्राद्धदः सदा
ṣaṣṭyāṃ dyūtaṃ kṛṣiṃ cāpi saptamyāṃ labhate naraḥ / aṣṭamyāmapi vāṇijyaṃ labhate śrāddhadaḥ sadā
षष्ठी तिथीस श्राद्ध-दान करणारा द्यूत व शेतीत यश मिळवतो; सप्तमीस मनुष्याला इच्छित सिद्धी मिळते. अष्टमीसही श्राद्धदाता सदैव व्यापारात समृद्धी प्राप्त करतो.
Sūta (narrating the Kurma Purana’s teaching on tithi-based Śrāddha merits, in the Shaiva-Vaishnava dharma framework)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
Indirectly: it emphasizes karma-yoga through dharmic action—Śrāddha and dāna purify intention and stabilize the mind, which in the Kurma Purana’s broader teaching becomes a support for Self-knowledge rather than a direct definition of Ātman.
The verse foregrounds ritual discipline (niyama) and charitable offering as preparatory practices; in Kurma Purana’s integrated path, such regulated dharma supports sattva and steadiness required for later contemplative yoga (including the Pāśupata-oriented inner restraint taught elsewhere).
By presenting Śrāddha as universally dharmic (not sectarian), it aligns with the Kurma Purana’s Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis: devotion and duty performed with purity are upheld as valid supports on the single path to auspiciousness, regardless of whether framed through Śiva or Nārāyaṇa.