Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 28

Oṅkāra-Liṅga and the Secret Pañcāyatana Liṅgas of Kāśī: Kṛttivāseśvara-Māhātmya

Devanagari script

आराधयन्ति प्रभुमीशितारं वाराणसीमध्यगता मुनिन्द्राः / यजन्ति यज्ञैरभिसंधिहीनाः स्तुवन्ति रुद्रं प्रणमन्ति शंभुम्

Transliteration

ārādhayanti prabhumīśitāraṃ vārāṇasīmadhyagatā munindrāḥ / yajanti yajñairabhisaṃdhihīnāḥ stuvanti rudraṃ praṇamanti śaṃbhum

Translation

ဝါရာဏသီ၏ အလယ်ဗဟို၌ နေထိုင်သော မုနိအထွဋ်အမြတ်တို့သည် အရှင်၊ အမြင့်ဆုံး အုပ်စိုးရှင်ကို ပူဇော်ကန်တော့ကြသည်။ အကျိုးလိုစိတ်မပါဘဲ ယဇ္ဉများဖြင့် ယဇ္ဉပြုကာ ရုဒြကို ချီးမွမ်း၍ သမ္ဘုကို ဦးညွှတ်ကန်တော့ကြသည်။

Word by Word

• आराधयन्ति: worship
• आराधयन्ति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-राध् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• प्रभुम्: the Lord
• प्रभुम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रभु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• ईशितारम्: the ruler
• ईशितारम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ईशितृ (प्रातिपदिक; √ईश् धातोः तृच्-प्रत्ययान्त ‘ruler’)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• वाराणसीमध्यगता: situated in the middle of Vārāṇasī
• वाराणसीमध्यगता: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वाराणसी + मध्य + गत (प्रातिपदिक; √गम्-धातोः क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष—‘वाराणस्याः मध्ये गताः’

• मुनिन्द्राः: chief sages
• मुनिन्द्राः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुनि + इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष—‘मुनीनां इन्द्राः’ (श्रेष्ठ-मुनयः)

• यजन्ति: sacrifice/worship
• यजन्ति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: यज् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• यज्ञैः: with sacrifices
• यज्ञैः: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यज्ञ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), बहुवचन

• अभिसन्धिहीनाः: free from ulterior motive
• अभिसन्धिहीनाः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अभिसन्धि + हीन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष—‘अभिसन्धिः (कामना/उद्देश्यः) तेन हीनाः’

• स्तुवन्ति: praise
• स्तुवन्ति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्तु (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• रुद्रम्: Rudra
• रुद्रम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रुद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

• प्रणमन्ति: bow to
• प्रणमन्ति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-नम् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present/वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन; परस्मैपद

• शम्भुम्: Śambhu
• शम्भुम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शम्भु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/द्वितीया), एकवचन

Speaker

Purana-narrator (Vyasa/Suta-style narration) describing the conduct of sages in Varanasi

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: bhakti

Characters & Entities

• Varanasi (Kashi)
• Munis (sages)
• Rudra
• Shambhu
• Ishvara (Supreme Lord)

More Details (4 sections)

FAQs

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

It points to a single supreme Lord (īśitā) worthy of worship; the sages approach that reality through purified, intentionless devotion—suggesting the Highest is accessed not by bargaining but by inner clarity.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

The verse emphasizes niṣkāma-upāsanā (motive-less worship) expressed through yajña, stuti (hymn/praise), and praṇāma (prostration)—a bhakti-yoga discipline aligned with Shaiva-Pashupata ideals of purity of intention.

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

By calling the worshipped reality both “the Supreme Ruler” and explicitly “Rudra/Śambhu,” it reflects the Kurma Purana’s integrative theology where the one Īśvara is approached through Shiva-names without denying the broader Vishnu-centered frame of the Purana.