Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 9

Agnihotra, Seasonal Śrauta Duties, and the Authority of Śruti–Smṛti–Purāṇa

Devanagari script

अन्यांश्च नरकान् घोरान् संप्राप्यान्ते सुदुर्मतिः / अन्त्यजानां कुले विप्राः शूद्रयोनौ च जायते

Transliteration

anyāṃśca narakān ghorān saṃprāpyānte sudurmatiḥ / antyajānāṃ kule viprāḥ śūdrayonau ca jāyate

Translation

အခြားကြောက်မက်ဖွယ် နရကများကိုလည်း ခံစားပြီးနောက်၊ စိတ်ဆိုးယုတ်သောသူသည် ထိုဒဏ်ခတ်မှုတို့၏ အဆုံးတွင် အောက်တန်းအပြင်ပန်း လူမျိုးစုတို့၏ မျိုးရိုးအတွင်း၌လည်းကောင်း၊ ရှူဒြာ မိခင်ဝမ်း၌လည်းကောင်း မွေးဖွားလာရ၏—အို ဘြာဟ္မဏတို့။

Word by Word

• अन्यान्: other
• अन्यान्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (नरकान्)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक (and)

• नरकान्: hells
• नरकान्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नरक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• घोरान्: terrible
• घोरान्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घोर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; विशेषणम् (नरकान्)

• संप्राप्य: having reached
• संप्राप्य: Purvakala (पूर्वकाल क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्+प्राप् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (Gerund/Absolutive), अव्ययभाव; ‘having reached/attained’

• अन्ते: in the end
• अन्ते: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-प्रयोग/सप्तमी-एकवचन-निभम्; क्रियाविशेषण (at the end)

• सुदुर्मतिः: the very evil-minded person
• सुदुर्मतिः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सु-दुर्मति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः कर्मधारय (अतिशयेन दुर्मतिः)

• अन्त्यजानाम्: of the outcastes
• अन्त्यजानाम्: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्त्यज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive), बहुवचन

• कुले: in a family
• कुले: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन

• विप्राः: O brāhmaṇas
• विप्राः: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विप्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; संबोधनार्थे अपि सम्भवः

• शूद्रयोनौ: in a śūdra womb/birth
• शूद्रयोनौ: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शूद्र-योनि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः तत्पुरुष (शूद्रस्य योनिः)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक

• जायते: is born
• जायते: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

Speaker

Sūta (narrating to the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: karuna

Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka

Characters & Entities

• Naraka
• Vipra (Brāhmaṇa)
• Antyaja
• Śūdra

More Details (3 sections)

FAQs

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

Indirectly: it emphasizes karmic causality at the level of embodied life—painful naraka-experiences and lower social births follow adharma—implying that liberation requires turning from ignorance-driven action toward Self-knowledge and dharma.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

No technique is named, but the verse supports the Kurma Purana’s yogic foundation: purification through ethical restraint (yama), disciplined conduct, and repentance, without which higher yoga (including Pāśupata-oriented devotion and contemplation) cannot bear fruit.

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

This specific verse is ethical-karmic rather than sectarian; in the Kurma Purana’s Shaiva-Vaishnava synthesis, such karmaphala teaching is upheld as a shared dharma framework under the one Supreme Lord revered as both Śiva and Viṣṇu.