Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 46

Devī-tattva, Śakti–Śaktimān doctrine, Kāla–Māyā cosmology, and Māheśvara Yoga instruction

Devanagari script

मन्ता विश्वेश्वरो देवः शङ्करो मन्मथान्तकः / प्रोच्यते मतिरीशानी मन्तव्या च विचारतः

Transliteration

mantā viśveśvaro devaḥ śaṅkaro manmathāntakaḥ / procyate matirīśānī mantavyā ca vicārataḥ

Translation

သူသည် အတွင်းလမ်းညွှန် (စဉ်းစားသူ) ဖြစ်၍ စကြဝဠာ၏ အရှင်—ဘုရား; ရှင်ကရ (Śaṅkara) သည် မန္မထ (ကာမ) ကို သတ်ပယ်သူ ဖြစ်သည်။ ဤသဘောတရားကို ဣရှာနီ (ဘုရား၏ သက္တိ) မှ ပေါ်ထွန်းသော ဉာဏ်အမြင်ဟု သင်ကြားထားပြီး၊ ခွဲခြားသုံးသပ်၍ စိတ်တွင် ဆင်ခြင်ရမည်။

Word by Word

• मन्ता: the thinker/knower
• मन्ता: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मन्तृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कर्तृवाचक-नाम (agent noun)

• विश्वेश्वरः: Lord of the universe
• विश्वेश्वरः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विश्व-ईश्वर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (genitive determinative): विश्वस्य ईश्वरः

• देवः: the god
• देवः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: देव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• शङ्करः: Śaṅkara
• शङ्करः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शङ्कर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• मन्मथान्तकः: slayer of Manmatha (Kāma)
• मन्मथान्तकः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मन्मथ-अन्तक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: मन्मथस्य अन्तकः

• प्रोच्यते: is proclaimed/said
• प्रोच्यते: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-वच् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), कर्मणि प्रयोग (Passive), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन; धातु: वच्, उपसर्ग: प्र-

• मतिः: intelligence/understanding
• मतिः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• ईशानी: Īśānī (the Goddess)
• ईशानी: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ईशानी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; देवी-नाम

• मन्तव्या: to be contemplated/considered
• मन्तव्या: Vidheyavisheshana (विधेयविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: मन् (धातु)
• Form: कृत्य-प्रत्यय (तव्यत्), कर्मणि/विधेयार्थ (gerundive: ‘to be thought/considered’); स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (मतिः/ईशानी इत्यस्य विधेयविशेषणम्)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय (conjunction)

• विचारतः: upon reflection/after deliberation
• विचारतः: Hetu/Adhikarana (हेतु/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: विचार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तसिल्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (ablatival adverb): ‘from/according to consideration’; अर्थे: ‘upon reflection’

Speaker

Lord Kurma (Vishnu) teaching the Ishvara-Gita to the sages (in the narrative frame with King Indradyumna)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Characters & Entities

• Vishveshvara
• Deva
• Shankara (Shiva)
• Manmathantaka (Shiva as destroyer of Kama)
• Ishani (Shakti)

More Details (3 sections)

FAQs

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

By calling the Lord “mantā” (the inner knower/guide) and “viśveśvara” (Lord of all), the verse points to Ishvara as the indwelling consciousness that governs and illumines the universe, known through discriminative inquiry (vicāra).

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

It emphasizes mantra-like contemplative recollection of divine epithets—especially Ishvara as Śaṅkara/Manmathāntaka—combined with vicāra (reflective discrimination), a characteristic method within the Kurma Purana’s Pāśupata-oriented devotion and meditation.

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

Within the Ishvara-Gita setting, Vishnu (as Kurma) teaches names and attributes of Śiva as the Supreme Lord, modeling a synthesis where Shiva and Vishnu are approached as one Ishvara through unified contemplation.