Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 28

Īśvara-Gītā (continued): Twofold Yoga, Aṣṭāṅga Discipline, Pāśupata Meditation, and the Unity of Nārāyaṇa–Maheśvara

Devanagari script

बाह्यमाभ्यन्तरं शौचं द्विधा प्रोक्तं द्विजोत्तमाः / मृज्जलाभ्यां स्मृतं बाह्यं मनःशुद्धिरथान्तरम्

Transliteration

bāhyamābhyantaraṃ śaucaṃ dvidhā proktaṃ dvijottamāḥ / mṛjjalābhyāṃ smṛtaṃ bāhyaṃ manaḥśuddhirathāntaram

Translation

အို ဒွိဇောတ္တမတို့၊ သန့်ရှင်းမှု (śauca) ကို အပြင်ပိုင်းနှင့် အတွင်းပိုင်း ဟူ၍ နှစ်မျိုးဟု ကြေညာထားသည်။ အပြင်ပိုင်းသန့်ရှင်းမှုသည် မြေ/မြေညှိ (mṛt) နှင့် ရေဖြင့် ဆေးကြောသန့်စင်ခြင်းဖြစ်ပြီး၊ အတွင်းပိုင်းသန့်ရှင်းမှုသည် စိတ်၏ သန့်စင်ခြင်း ဖြစ်သည်။

Word by Word

• bāhyam: external
• bāhyam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bāhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative/Accusative (1st/2nd प्रथमा/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• ābhyantaram: internal
• ābhyantaram: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ābhyantara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative/Accusative (1st/2nd प्रथमा/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• śaucam: purity; cleanliness
• śaucam: Karma (कर्म/द्वितीया)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śauca (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative/Accusative (1st/2nd प्रथमा/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• dvidhā: in two ways
• dvidhā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: dvidhā (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb (क्रियाविशेषण-अव्यय): ‘in two ways’

• proktam: is said; is taught
• proktam: Kriyā (क्रिया/विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pra-√vac (वच् धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त-कृदन्त), Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative/Accusative (1st/2nd प्रथमा/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• dvija-uttamāḥ: O best of the twice-born
• dvija-uttamāḥ: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvija (प्रातिपदिक) + uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Vocative (8th/सम्बोधन), Plural (बहुवचन); तत्पुरुषः—‘best among the twice-born’

• mṛt: with earth/clay
• mṛt: Karana (करण/तृतीया)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mṛt (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• jalābhyām: with water
• jalābhyām: Karana (करण/तृतीया)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Dual (द्विवचन)

• smṛtam: is remembered/considered
• smṛtam: Kriyā (क्रिया/विधेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: √smṛ (स्मृ धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त-कृदन्त), Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative/Accusative (1st/2nd प्रथमा/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• bāhyam: external (purity)
• bāhyam: Karma (कर्म/द्वितीया)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bāhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative/Accusative (1st/2nd प्रथमा/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• manaḥ-śuddhiḥ: purity of mind
• manaḥ-śuddhiḥ: Karta (कर्ता/प्रथमा)
• Type: Noun
• Root: manas (प्रातिपदिक) + śuddhi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); तत्पुरुषः—‘purity of mind’

• atha: and/then
• atha: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (निपात-अव्यय): ‘and/then’

• antaram: the internal (purity)
• antaram: Karma (कर्म/द्वितीया)
• Type: Noun
• Root: antara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative/Accusative (1st/2nd प्रथमा/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

Speaker

Lord Kūrma (as Īśvara) instructing the sages (dvijottamāḥ) within the Ishvara Gita discourse

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Characters & Entities

• Kūrma
• Īśvara
• dvija (twice-born)

More Details (3 sections)

FAQs

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

By prioritizing manaḥ-śuddhi (purification of mind) as true inner purity, the verse implies that realization of the Self/Īśvara depends on inner transformation rather than merely outward ritual cleanliness.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

It frames a core yogic prerequisite: internal śauca—cleansing the mind through restraint, ethical discipline, and contemplative purification—supporting Pāśupata-oriented practice where inner purity enables steadiness in japa, dhyāna, and devotion to Īśvara.

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

While not naming Śiva-Viṣṇu explicitly, it reflects the Kurma Purana’s synthesis: the same Īśvara teaches yogic inner purity as the decisive factor—an approach shared across Śaiva (Pāśupata) and Vaiṣṇava devotional frameworks.