Shloka 24
Prāyaścitta for Mahāpātakas: Liquor, Theft, Sexual Transgression, Contact with the Fallen, and Homicide
गत्वा दुहितरं विप्रः स्वसारं वा स्नुषामपि / प्रविशेज्ज्वलनं दीप्तं मतिपूर्वमिति स्थितिः
gatvā duhitaraṃ vipraḥ svasāraṃ vā snuṣāmapi / praviśejjvalanaṃ dīptaṃ matipūrvamiti sthitiḥ
Jika seorang Brahmana telah melakukan hubungan terlarang dengan anak perempuannya sendiri, atau saudara perempuannya, atau menantunya, maka—setelah bertekad dengan penuh kesedaran—dia harus memasuki api yang menyala-nyala; demikianlah ketetapan yang diperintahkan.
Sūta (narrating the Kurma Purana’s dharma injunctions to the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya)
Primary Rasa: bibhatsa
Secondary Rasa: raudra
FAQs
This verse is not a metaphysical teaching on Ātman; it establishes dharma through prāyaścitta for a grave transgression, implying that spiritual life (including self-knowledge) is grounded in ethical restraint and purification.
No yogic technique is taught here directly; the focus is expiation (prāyaścitta). Within the Kurma Purana’s wider spiritual framework, such purification supports eligibility for higher disciplines like devotion, mantra, and Pāśupata-oriented sādhana.
It does not explicitly address Śiva–Viṣṇu unity; it belongs to the dharma/prāyaścitta layer that undergirds the Purana’s later synthetic theology, where ethical order supports devotion to the one Supreme revered through Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava forms.