Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 20

Brahmā’s Lotus-Birth, the Sealing of the Cosmic Womb, and the Epiphany of Parameśvara

Hari–Hara Samanvaya

Devanagari script

अहं धाता विधाता च स्वयंभूः प्रपितामहः / मय्येव संस्थितं विश्वं ब्रह्माहं विश्वतोमुखः

Transliteration

ahaṃ dhātā vidhātā ca svayaṃbhūḥ prapitāmahaḥ / mayyeva saṃsthitaṃ viśvaṃ brahmāhaṃ viśvatomukhaḥ

Translation

“ငါသည် ဓာတာနှင့် ဝိဓာတာ—ထိန်းသိမ်းသူနှင့် စီမံခန့်ခွဲသူ; ကိုယ်တိုင်ပေါ်ပေါက်သော (Svayambhū)၊ မဟာပရပိတာမဟ (အကြီးဆုံး မျိုးဆက်အဘ) ဖြစ်၏။ စကြဝဠာတစ်လုံးလုံးသည် ငါ၌သာ တည်ရှိ၏; ငါသည် မျက်နှာအရပ်ရပ်ရှိသော ဘြဟ္မာ (Viśvatomukha) ဖြစ်၏။”

Word by Word

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन

• धाता: the creator/sustainer
• धाता: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धा (धातु) + तृ (कृदन्त)
• Form: तृ-प्रत्ययान्त कर्तृवाचक (agent noun), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• विधाता: the ordainer
• विधाता: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वि + धा (धातु) + तृ (कृदन्त)
• Form: तृ-प्रत्ययान्त कर्तृवाचक, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

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

• स्वयंभूः: self-born
• स्वयंभूः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वयम् + भू (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव/तत्पुरुषसदृश (svayam bhavati: self-born), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• प्रपितामहः: great-grandsire
• प्रपितामहः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्र + पितामह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन

• मयि: in me
• मयि: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन

• एव: indeed
• एव: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: निश्चय/अवधारण-अव्यय (emphatic particle)

• संस्थितम्: situated/established
• संस्थितम्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम् + स्था (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विश्वम् इत्यस्य विशेषण

• विश्वम्: the universe
• विश्वम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विश्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन

• ब्रह्मा: Brahmā
• ब्रह्मा: Pratijna/Predicate (विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन; अहम् इत्यस्य विधेय (predicate nominative)

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन

• विश्वतोमुखः: all-faced (facing everywhere)
• विश्वतोमुखः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विश्वतः (अव्यय) + मुख (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: बहुव्रीहि (viśvataḥ mukhāni yasya: having faces on all sides), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; अहम् इत्यस्य विशेषण

Speaker

Brahmā (cosmic creator figure, speaking in first person)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: vira

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Characters & Entities

• Brahmā
• Svayambhū
• Prapitāmaha

More Details (3 sections)

FAQs

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

The verse presents an “I”-identity that supports and orders the cosmos, implying a supreme self-principle as the ground in which the universe abides; in Kurma Purana theology this creator-voice ultimately points to Ishvara as the inner support of all beings.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

This verse itself is doctrinal rather than procedural, but it supports Ishvara-dhyana: meditation on the all-pervading Lord/creator as the substratum of the universe—an orientation that later aligns with the Kurma Purana’s Pashupata-tinged devotion and contemplation of Ishvara.

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

By emphasizing a single cosmic ground (“in me alone the universe is established”), it fits the Kurma Purana’s broader non-sectarian synthesis where the supreme Ishvara can be praised through multiple divine forms—supporting a Shiva–Vishnu unity framework rather than strict opposition.