Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 3

Incarnations of Mahādeva in Kali-yuga (Vaivasvata Manvantara) and the Nakulīśa Horizon

Devanagari script

हिमवच्छिखरे रम्ये छगले पर्वतोत्तमे / तस्य शिष्याः शिखायुक्ता वभूवुरमितप्रभाः

Transliteration

himavacchikhare ramye chagale parvatottame / tasya śiṣyāḥ śikhāyuktā vabhūvuramitaprabhāḥ

Translation

ဟိမဝတ်တောင်တန်း၏ လှပသော ထိပ်ဖျား၊ ချဂလ ဟူသော အထူးမြတ်သော တောင်ပေါ်၌၊ ထိုအရှင်၏ တပည့်များသည် သီခာ (ဆံထုံးသန့်) ကို ထားရှိကာ အတိုင်းမသိ တောက်ပမှုကို ရရှိကြ၏။

Word by Word

• himavat-śikhare: on the peak of Himavat
• himavat-śikhare: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: himavat-śikhara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular; तत्पुरुषः: हिमवत् + शिखर

• ramye: beautiful
• ramye: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ramya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular; agrees with शिखरे

• chagale: at Chagala
• chagale: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: chagala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular; place-name (Chagala)

• parvatottame: on the best of mountains
• parvatottame: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: parvata-uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular; तत्पुरुषः: पर्वत + उत्तम

• tasya: of him/of that one
• tasya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular; pronoun

• śiṣyāḥ: disciples
• śiṣyāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śiṣya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural

• śikhāyuktāḥ: wearing topknots
• śikhāyuktāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śikhā-yukta (कृदन्त; √yuj)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural; past participial adjective ‘endowed with’; तत्पुरुषः: शिखा + युक्त

• vabhūvuḥ: became/were
• vabhūvuḥ: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū (धातु)
• Form: Perfect (लिट्), 3rd Person (प्रथमपुरुष), Plural (बहुवचन); parasmaipada

• amita-prabhāḥ: of immeasurable radiance
• amita-prabhāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: amita-prabhā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural; कर्मधारयः: अमित + प्रभा

Speaker

Purāṇic narrator (Sūta-style narration in the Kurma Purana’s pilgrimage/lineage context)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Characters & Entities

• Himavat (Himalaya)
• Chagala (mountain)
• disciples (śiṣyāḥ)
• śikhā (sacred topknot)

More Details (4 sections)

FAQs

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

Indirectly: the disciples’ “immeasurable radiance” points to the classical Purāṇic-Yogic sign that inner discipline and proximity to sacred space awaken sattva and reveal the Self’s luminosity, rather than worldly status.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

The verse emphasizes tapas and brahmacarya-coded discipline through the śikhā (a Vaidika marker of vowed practice). In Kurma Purana themes, such disciplined living supports mantra-japa, study, and meditative steadiness that culminate in spiritual “prabhā” (effulgence).

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

It does so by atmosphere rather than doctrine: a Himalayan sacred setting and ascetic discipleship align with Shaiva tapas traditions while remaining fully compatible with Vaishnava Purāṇic devotion—typical of the Kurma Purana’s synthesis.