Devadāru (Dāruvana) Forest: The Delusion of Ritual Pride, the Liṅga Crisis, and the Teaching of Jñāna–Pāśupata Yoga
दृष्ट्वा समागतं देवं देव्या सह कपर्दिनम् / प्रणेमुः शिरसा भूमौ तोषयामासुरीश्वरम्
dṛṣṭvā samāgataṃ devaṃ devyā saha kapardinam / praṇemuḥ śirasā bhūmau toṣayāmāsurīśvaram
देवीसह कपर्दिन् (शिव) देव आलेले पाहून त्यांनी मस्तक भूमीवर ठेवून प्रणाम केला आणि अशा रीतीने देवांचा ईश्वर संतुष्ट केला.
Suta (narrator) describing the scene to the sages (frame narration)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
By calling Shiva “Īśvara” and showing that reverent surrender pleases Him, the verse implies the Supreme is a personal Lord approachable through devotion; the Atman’s alignment with Īśvara is expressed through humility and prostration.
The verse foregrounds bhakti-yoga expressed as praṇāma (prostration) and śaraṇāgati (surrender). In Kurma Purana’s spiritual ethic, such embodied reverence purifies the mind and becomes a preparatory limb for higher contemplation associated with Pāśupata-oriented discipline.
Though Vishnu is central to the Kurma Purana frame, this verse honors Shiva as Īśvara, reflecting the text’s non-sectarian synthesis: devotion to Shiva (with Devi) is presented as fully legitimate within a broader Purāṇic unity of the Supreme.