Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 81

Viṣṇu at Upamanyu’s Āśrama: Pāśupata Tapas, Darśana of Śiva, and Boons from Devī

Devanagari script

त्वं हि सा परमा मूर्तिर्मम नारायणाह्वया / नानवाप्तं त्वया तात विद्यते पुरुषोत्तम

Transliteration

tvaṃ hi sā paramā mūrtirmama nārāyaṇāhvayā / nānavāptaṃ tvayā tāta vidyate puruṣottama

Translation

သင်သည် ငါ၏ အမြင့်မြတ်ဆုံး ရုပ်သဏ္ဌာန်တော်ပင် ဖြစ်၍ ‘နာရာယဏ’ ဟူသော နာမဖြင့် သိကြ၏။ အို ချစ်သား—အို ပုရုရှောတ္တမ—သင်မရရှိသေးသော အရာဟူ၍ လုံးဝ မရှိ။

Word by Word

• त्वम्: you
• त्वम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन (Nominative singular)

• हि: indeed
• हि: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, निपात (particle)

• सा: that
• सा: Pratipādya (प्रातिपाद्य/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन (Pronoun, nominative singular)

• परमा: supreme
• परमा: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: parama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; मूर्तिः इति विशेषण

• मूर्तिः: form; embodiment
• मूर्तिः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mūrti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन (Nominative singular)

• मम: of me; my
• मम: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी विभक्ति, एकवचन (Genitive singular)

• नारायणाह्वया: named Nārāyaṇa
• नारायणाह्वया: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nārāyaṇa-āhvaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष: नारायण इति आह्वयः/नाम यस्याः; स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; मूर्तिः इति विशेषण (called Nārāyaṇa)

• न: not
• न: Pratiṣedha (प्रतिषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, निषेध-निपात (negation)

• अनवाप्तम्: unattained; not obtained
• अनवाप्तम्: Pratipādya (प्रातिपाद्य/विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: an-avāpta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; नञ्-समास/उपसर्ग: अन् + अवाप्त (not obtained); विद्यते इति क्रियायाः विशेष्य (as predicate)

• त्वया: by you
• त्वया: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया विभक्ति, एकवचन (Instrumental singular)

• तात: O dear one; O father
• तात: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tāta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन (Vocative); स्नेहसम्बोधन

• विद्यते: exists
• विद्यते: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vid (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; अस्त्यर्थे (exists)

• पुरुषोत्तम: O best of persons
• पुरुषोत्तम: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puruṣa-uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय: उत्तमः पुरुषः; पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन (Vocative)

Speaker

A devotee/sage addressing the Supreme Lord as Nārāyaṇa (within the Purva-bhaga’s devotional-philosophical dialogue setting)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Characters & Entities

• Narayana
• Purushottama

More Details (4 sections)

FAQs

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

It presents the Supreme as Puruṣottama/Nārāyaṇa—the complete, unsurpassed reality—implying fullness (pūrṇatā): nothing remains to be attained for the Supreme, who is the source of all attainments.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

The verse foregrounds īśvara-paratā (God-centered orientation): meditation and yoga culminate in recognizing the Lord as the supreme manifest form and resting the mind in His completeness—an attitude aligned with Kurma Purana’s integrated bhakti-yoga and disciplined sādhana.

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

By emphasizing a single Supreme (Īśvara) as the all-complete Puruṣottama, it supports the Purana’s broader non-sectarian synthesis: different divine names/forms (including Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava) point to one highest reality.