Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 49

Kapardeśvara at Piśācamocana — Liberation of a Piśāca and the Brahmapāra Hymn

Devanagari script

एतद् रहस्यमाख्यातं माहात्म्यं वः कपर्दिनः / न कश्चिद् वेत्ति तमसा विद्वानप्यत्र मुह्यति

Transliteration

etad rahasyamākhyātaṃ māhātmyaṃ vaḥ kapardinaḥ / na kaścid vetti tamasā vidvānapyatra muhyati

Translation

ဤသည်မှာ ကပရ္ဒင် (သီဝ) ၏ မဟာတန်ခိုးအကြောင်း လျှို့ဝှက်တရားကို သင်တို့အား ငါဖော်ပြခဲ့ခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။ သို့သော် မည်သူမျှ အမှန်တကယ် မသိနိုင်; အမှောင်က ဖုံးလွှမ်းထားသဖြင့် ပညာရှိတောင် ဤနေရာ၌ စိတ်ရှုပ်ထွေးမောဟဖြစ်ရသည်။

Word by Word

• एतत्: this
• एतत्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• रहस्यम्: secret (teaching)
• रहस्यम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रहस्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• आख्यातम्: has been declared
• आख्यातम्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ + ख्या (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त भूतकृदन्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; धातु: ख्या (to tell/declare) with उपसर्ग आ-; अर्थ: declared/told

• माहात्म्यम्: the greatness (glory)
• माहात्म्यम्: Samānādhikaraṇa (समानाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: माहात्म्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; रहस्यम् इत्यस्य विशेष्य/अप्पोजिशन

• वः: of you / to you (plural)
• वः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, षष्ठी (Genitive/6th), बहुवचन; enclitic

• कपर्दिनः: of Kapardin (Śiva)
• कपर्दिनः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कपर्दिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• न: not
• न: Pratiṣedha (प्रतिषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (negation particle)

• कश्चित्: anyone
• कश्चित्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; अनिश्चित (indefinite)

• वेत्ति: knows
• वेत्ति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: विद् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; धातु: विद् (to know)

• तमसा: by darkness/ignorance
• तमसा: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तमस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन

• विद्वान्: a learned person
• विद्वान्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विद्वस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; वर्तमान-विशेषणार्थ (learned man)

• अपि: even
• अपि: Sambandha-bodhaka (सम्बन्धबोधक)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle: even/also)

• अत्र: here/in this matter
• अत्र: Desha-adhikarana (देशाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb of place)

• मुह्यति: is deluded
• मुह्यति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: मुह् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; धातु: मुह् (to be deluded/confused)

Speaker

Lord Kūrma (Viṣṇu) instructing sages (Kurma Purana discourse frame)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Characters & Entities

• Kapardin
• Śiva
• Tamas
• Vidvān

More Details (3 sections)

FAQs

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

It implies that ultimate divine reality cannot be grasped merely by scholarship; when consciousness is covered by tamas (avidyā), even the learned fail to recognize the truth behind Śiva’s greatness—pointing to a need for direct realization beyond concepts.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

The verse stresses removing tamas/ignorance, which the Kurma Purana commonly frames through disciplined sādhana—purification, steadiness of mind, and contemplative insight (dhyāna/jñāna supported by dharma)—so that the ‘rahasya’ becomes experientially known rather than intellectually debated.

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

With Viṣṇu (as Lord Kūrma) proclaiming Śiva’s secret greatness, it reinforces the Purana’s Shaiva–Vaishnava harmony: the divine is honored through multiple names and forms, and sectarian rivalry is portrayed as a product of tamas and misunderstanding.