Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 17

Īśvara-gītā (Adhyāya 2) — Ātma-svarūpa, Māyā, and the Unity of Sāṅkhya–Yoga

Devanagari script

नित्योदितः स्वयं ज्योतिः सर्वगः पुरुषः परः / अहङ्काराविवेकेन कर्ताहमिति मन्यते

Transliteration

nityoditaḥ svayaṃ jyotiḥ sarvagaḥ puruṣaḥ paraḥ / ahaṅkārāvivekena kartāhamiti manyate

Translation

အမြင့်ဆုံးသော ပုရုෂသည် အမြဲပေါ်လွင်၍ ကိုယ်တိုင်တောက်ပကာ နေရာတိုင်းသို့ ပြန့်နှံ့နေသည်။ သို့သော် အဟင်္ကာရကြောင့် ခွဲခြားမသိသော အဝိဝေကဖြင့် «ငါက လုပ်သူ» ဟု ထင်မြင်တတ်သည်။

Word by Word

• nitya-uditaḥ: ever-manifest
• nitya-uditaḥ: Karta-anvaya (कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nitya + udita (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (‘नित्यः उदितः’), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण of puruṣaḥ

• svayam: by itself
• svayam: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: svayam (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; स्वयम् (reflexive adverb: by itself)

• jyotiḥ: light
• jyotiḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jyotis (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; समनाधिकरण with puruṣaḥ (apposition)

• sarvagaḥ: all-pervading
• sarvagaḥ: Karta-anvaya (कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva + ga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (‘सर्वं गच्छति/व्याप्नोति’), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण of puruṣaḥ

• puruṣaḥ: the Person (Self)
• puruṣaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puruṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• paraḥ: supreme/transcendent
• paraḥ: Karta-anvaya (कर्तृविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण of puruṣaḥ

• ahaṅkāra-avivekena: through the non-discrimination caused by ego
• ahaṅkāra-avivekena: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ahaṅkāra + aviveka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (षष्ठी: ‘अहङ्कारस्य अविवेकः’), पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन; करण/हेतु (by/through)

• kartā: doer
• kartā: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: √kṛ + tṛ (धातु + तृ)
• Form: कर्तृवाचक-नाम, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; उद्धृतवाक्ये (in quoted thought)

• aham: I
• aham: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, प्रथमा, एकवचन; उद्धृतवाक्ये

• iti: thus
• iti: Vākyārtha-dyotaka (वाक्यार्थद्योतक)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; इति-निपात (quotative)

• manyate: thinks/considers
• manyate: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √man (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

Speaker

Lord Kurma (Vishnu) instructing in a Shaiva-Vaishnava synthesis on Self-knowledge and liberation

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: karuna

Characters & Entities

• Puruṣa
• Ahaṅkāra

More Details (3 sections)

FAQs

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

It describes the Self as ever-present and self-luminous, pervading all; it is not produced by actions or conditions, but is the constant witness-consciousness (puruṣa) beyond limitation.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

The verse points to viveka (discriminative insight) central to jñāna-yoga and Pāśupata-oriented inner discipline: meditation on the self-luminous witness and relinquishing egoic agency (kartṛtva) as a prerequisite for steadiness in samādhi.

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

By teaching the same non-dual Self as the supreme reality, it aligns Vishnu’s instruction with Shaiva-Pāśupata vocabulary of inner renunciation and knowledge—presenting a shared, unified soteriology rather than sectarian opposition.