Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 16
Yuga-Dharma: The Four Ages, Decline of Dharma, and the Rise of Social Order
आद्यं कृतयुगं प्रोक्तं ततस्त्रेतायुगं बुधैः / तृतीयं द्वापरं पार्थ चतुर्थं कलिरुच्यते
ādyaṃ kṛtayugaṃ proktaṃ tatastretāyugaṃ budhaiḥ / tṛtīyaṃ dvāparaṃ pārtha caturthaṃ kalirucyate
Zaman pertama diisytiharkan sebagai Kṛta Yuga; sesudah itu, para bijaksana menyebut Tretā Yuga. Yang ketiga ialah Dvāpara, wahai Pārtha, dan yang keempat dikatakan sebagai Kali Yuga.
Narrator/Sage addressing the listener as “Pārtha” (didactic address within the Purāṇic discourse)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
This verse does not define Ātman directly; it frames the cosmic setting of time (yugas) in which spiritual discipline and realization of the Self are pursued, implying that liberation-teachings operate within repeating cycles of ages.
No specific practice is named in this verse; it provides the yuga-sequence that later passages use to explain how dharma, sādhanā, and authoritative disciplines (including Pāśupata-oriented and Vaiṣṇava devotion) vary in emphasis across different ages.
The verse is neutral on deity-relations and focuses on yuga order; in the Kurma Purana’s broader Shaiva-Vaishnava synthesis, such cosmological structuring supports a unified sacred framework in which both Śiva-oriented and Viṣṇu-oriented paths are taught for different temperaments and times.