Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 22

Madhu–Kaiṭabha, Nārāyaṇa’s Yoga-Nidrā, Rudra’s Manifestation, and the Aṣṭamūrti–Trimūrti Teaching

Devanagari script

तदा प्राणमयो रुद्रः प्रादुरसीत् प्रभीर्मुखात् / सहस्त्रादित्यसंकाशो युगान्तदहनोपमः

Transliteration

tadā prāṇamayo rudraḥ prādurasīt prabhīrmukhāt / sahastrādityasaṃkāśo yugāntadahanopamaḥ

Translation

ထိုအခါ အသက်ရှုဓာတ်ကိုယ်တိုင်ဖြစ်သော ရုဒြာသည် ကြောက်မက်ဖွယ် မျက်နှာပေါက်မှ ပေါ်ထွန်းလာ၏။ သူသည် နေတစ်ထောင်ကဲ့သို့ တောက်ပ၍ ယုဂအဆုံး၌ လောင်ကျွမ်းသည့် မီးကဲ့သို့ ဖြစ်၏။

Word by Word

• तदा: then
• तदा: काल (Time)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक (temporal adverb)

• प्राणमयः: made of life-breath
• प्राणमयः: विशेषण (Adjectival to रुद्रः)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्राण (प्रातिपदिक) + मय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (प्राणैः मयः = consisting of prāṇa)

• रुद्रः: Rudra
• रुद्रः: कर्ता (Karta/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रुद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• प्रादुरासीत्: appeared
• प्रादुरासीत्: क्रिया (Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; परस्मैपद; अव्ययीभाव-प्रयोगवत् उपसर्ग: प्रादुर् (appearance)

• प्रभीः: of Prabhī
• प्रभीः: सम्बन्ध (Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रभी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन (intended: प्रभीः = of Prabhī)

• मुखात्: from (the) mouth
• मुखात्: अपादान (Source)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुख (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th), एकवचन

• सहस्रादित्यसंकाशः: radiant like a thousand suns
• सहस्रादित्यसंकाशः: विशेषण (Adjectival to रुद्रः)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक) + आदित्य (प्रातिपदिक) + संकाश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (सहस्र-आदित्यवत् संकाशः = having the radiance of a thousand suns)

• युगान्तदहनउपमः: like the end-of-age conflagration
• युगान्तदहनउपमः: विशेषण (Adjectival to रुद्रः)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: युगान्त (प्रातिपदिक) + दहन (प्रातिपदिक) + उपम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (युगान्त-दहनस्य उपमः = comparable to the fire at the end of an age)

Speaker

Narrator (Purāṇic narration describing cosmic manifestation)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: raudra

Characters & Entities

• Rudra
• Śiva
• Prāṇa
• Yugānta (end of an age)

More Details (4 sections)

FAQs

How does this verse explain the nature of the Supreme Self (Atman)?

By calling Rudra “prāṇamaya” (made of vital breath), the verse points to divinity as the inner life-principle that animates beings—suggesting the Supreme is encountered as the power of consciousness and life within, not merely as an external form.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

The verse implicitly foregrounds prāṇa as a doorway to the divine: contemplative traditions in the Kurma Purana’s broader Shaiva-Vaishnava synthesis often treat mastery of prāṇa (through restraint, breath-awareness, and inner stillness) as supportive for realizing Īśvara’s presence as the indwelling life-force.

How does this verse depict the relationship between Shiva and Vishnu?

Rudra’s emergence within a cosmic creation frame supports the Purana’s integrative theology: Rudra (Śiva) is presented as a manifested divine potency within the same supreme order, aligning with the Kurma Purana’s tendency to harmonize Shaiva and Vaishnava visions rather than oppose them.