Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 18

Ācamana-vidhi, Śauca, and Conduct Rules for Study, Eating, and Bodily Functions

Devanagari script

मूले वा दैवमार्षं स्यादाग्नेयं मध्यतः स्मृतं / तदेव सौमिकं तीर्थमेतज्ज्ञात्वा न मुह्यति

Transliteration

mūle vā daivamārṣaṃ syādāgneyaṃ madhyataḥ smṛtaṃ / tadeva saumikaṃ tīrthametajjñātvā na muhyati

Translation

အမြစ်၌ ‘ဒိုင်ဝ’ နှင့် ‘အာရ္ရှ’ တီရ္ထ ဖြစ်၏; အလယ်၌ ‘အာဂ္နေယ’ (အဂ္နိ၏) ဟု မှတ်ယူကြသည်။ ထိုတီရ္ထတစ်ခုတည်းသည် ‘စောမိက’ (ဆိုမ—အေးမြသက်သာ) သဘောလည်း ရှိ၏; ဤအရာကို သိသူသည် မရှုပ်ထွေးတော့။

Word by Word

• मूले: at the base
• मूले: अधिकरण (Adhikaraṇa/Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मूल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन

• वा: or
• वा: निपात (Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विकल्पार्थक-निपात (disjunctive particle)

• दैवम्: the daiva [tīrtha]
• दैवम्: कर्ता/प्रातिपदिकार्थ (Predicate nominative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दैव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; नाम (tīrtha-name)

• आर्षम्: the ārṣa [tīrtha]
• आर्षम्: कर्ता/प्रातिपदिकार्थ (Predicate nominative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आर्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; नाम (tīrtha-name)

• स्यात्: may be/is (as a rule)
• स्यात्: क्रिया (Kriyā/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन

• आग्नेयम्: the āgneya [tīrtha]
• आग्नेयम्: कर्ता/प्रातिपदिकार्थ (Predicate nominative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आग्नेय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; नाम (tīrtha-name)

• मध्यतः: from the middle/in the middle region
• मध्यतः: अधिकरण/देश (Location/Region)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: मध्यतः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; तसिल्-प्रत्ययान्त (ablatival adverb)

• स्मृतम्: is remembered/considered
• स्मृतम्: क्रिया-विशेष (Predicative participle)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्मृ (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त, नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; predicate

• तत्: that
• तत्: सम्बन्ध/निर्देश (Deictic)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• एव: indeed
• एव: निपात (Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निश्चयार्थक-निपात

• सौमिकम्: saumya-related/saumika
• सौमिकम्: विशेषण (Viśeṣaṇa/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सौमिक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेषण (qualifying तीर्थम्)

• तीर्थम्: tīrtha
• तीर्थम्: कर्ता/प्रातिपदिकार्थ (Predicate nominative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• एतत्: this
• एतत्: कर्म (Karma/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन

• ज्ञात्वा: having known
• ज्ञात्वा: पूर्वकाल (Pūrvakāla/Prior action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ज्ञा (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund/absolutive)

• न: not
• न: निपात (Particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध-निपात (negation particle)

• मुह्यति: is deluded/confused
• मुह्यति: क्रिया (Kriyā/Verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: मुह् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार, परस्मैपद, प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन

Speaker

Lord Kurma (Vishnu) instructing sages/seekers on tīrtha-doctrine

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Characters & Entities

• Agni
• Soma
• Ṛṣis (seers)
• Tīrtha

More Details (4 sections)

FAQs

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

Indirectly, it points to a unifying insight: the same sacred reality can be apprehended through multiple divine modes (Agni-like transformative power and Soma-like cooling grace). Knowing the one underlying tīrtha-principle behind differing descriptions prevents delusion—an approach consistent with the Kurma Purana’s integrative theology.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

The verse emphasizes viveka (discriminative understanding) applied to sacred geography: recognizing the ‘root–middle’ energetic mapping (source as daiva/ārṣa, center as āgneya, and the whole as saumya) supports inner purification—fire as tapas/transformative discipline and soma as śānti/soothing clarity—complementary to Kurma Purana’s broader yogic and dharmic sādhanā.

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

By presenting a single tīrtha as simultaneously characterized by different divine principles (Agni/Soma; daiva/ārṣa), it reflects the Purana’s non-sectarian method: one sacred truth expressed through multiple forms. This harmonizing lens aligns with the Kurma Purana’s Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis, where apparent distinctions are integrated rather than opposed.