Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 1

Yati-Āśrama: Bhikṣā-vidhi, Īśvara-dhyāna, and Prāyaścitta

Mahādeva as Non-dual Brahman

Devanagari script

इति श्रीकूर्मपुराणे षट्साहस्त्र्यां संहितायामुपरिविभागे ऽष्टाविंशो ऽध्यायः व्यास उवाच एवं स्वाश्रमनिष्ठानां यतीनां नियतात्मनाम् / भैक्षेण वर्तनं प्रोक्तं फलमूलैरथापि वा

Transliteration

iti śrīkūrmapurāṇe ṣaṭsāhastryāṃ saṃhitāyāmuparivibhāge 'ṣṭāviṃśo 'dhyāyaḥ vyāsa uvāca evaṃ svāśramaniṣṭhānāṃ yatīnāṃ niyatātmanām / bhaikṣeṇa vartanaṃ proktaṃ phalamūlairathāpi vā

Translation

ဤသို့ဖြင့် «သီရိ ကူർമပုရာဏ» ခြောက်ထောင်ဂါထာပါ သံဟိတာ၏ နောက်ပိုင်းခွဲတွင် အနှစ်ဆယ့်ရှစ်မြောက် အခန်း (အဓျာယ) ဖြစ်၏။ ဗျာသက ပြောသည်– «ဤနည်းဖြင့် မိမိ၏ အာရှရမဓမ္မ၌ တည်ကြည်၍ စိတ်ကို ထိန်းချုပ်ထားသော ယတီ (သံဃာတော်/တပသီ) များအတွက် အသက်မွေးဝမ်းကျောင်းကို ဘိက္ခာ (အလှူခံ) ဖြင့် သတ်မှတ်ထားသည်၊ သို့မဟုတ် အခြားနည်းဖြင့် သစ်သီးနှင့် အမြစ်တို့ဖြင့်လည်း ဖြစ်နိုင်သည်»။

Word by Word

• इति: thus
• इति: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; वाक्यसमाप्ति/उद्धरणसूचक (quotative/end marker)

• श्रीकूर्मपुराणे: in the Śrī Kūrma Purāṇa
• श्रीकूर्मपुराणे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रीकूर्मपुराण (प्रातिपदिक; श्री + कूर्मपुराण)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः (श्रीमत् कूर्मपुराणम्)

• षट्साहस्त्र्याम्: in the (section called) Ṣaṭsāhastrī
• षट्साहस्त्र्याम्: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: षट्साहस्त्री (प्रातिपदिक; षट् + साहस्त्री)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; द्विगु-समासः (षट् सहस्राणि यस्याः)

• संहितायाम्: in the Saṃhitā
• संहितायाम्: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संहिता (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• उपरिविभागे: in the upper division/section
• उपरिविभागे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उपरिविभाग (प्रातिपदिक; उपरि + विभाग)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; अव्ययीभाव-समासः (उपरि विभागः)

• अष्टाविंशः: twenty-eighth
• अष्टाविंशः: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अष्टाविंश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; द्विगु-समासः (अष्टा + विंशति = 28)

• अध्यायः: chapter
• अध्यायः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्याय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• व्यासः: Vyāsa
• व्यासः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्यास (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• उवाच: said
• उवाच: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• एवम्: thus/in this manner
• एवम्: Kriya-visheshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एवम् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक (manner adverb)

• स्वाश्रमनिष्ठानाम्: of those devoted to their own āśrama-duties
• स्वाश्रमनिष्ठानाम्: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्वाश्रमनिष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक; स्व + आश्रम + निष्ठ)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष-समासः (स्वे आश्रमे निष्ठा येषाम्)

• यतीनाम्: of ascetics
• यतीनाम्: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• नियतात्मनाम्: of the self-controlled
• नियतात्मनाम्: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नियतात्मन् (प्रातिपदिक; नियत + आत्मन्)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; कर्मधारय-समासः (नियतः आत्मा येषाम्)

• भैक्षेण: by alms (mendicant food)
• भैक्षेण: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भैक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental), एकवचन

• वर्तनम्: subsistence/living
• वर्तनम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर्तन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• प्रोक्तम्: is declared
• प्रोक्तम्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-वच् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगे (it is said)

• फलमूलैः: with fruits and roots
• फलमूलैः: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: फलमूल (प्रातिपदिक; फल + मूल)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; द्वन्द्व-समासः (फलानि च मूलानि च)

• अथ: or else/then
• अथ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अनुक्रम/विकल्पसूचक (then/also)

• अपि: also
• अपि: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय/अपि-भाव (also/even)

• वा: or
• वा: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/विकल्प)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विकल्पार्थक (or)

Speaker

Vyasa

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: karuna

Characters & Entities

• Vyasa
• Yati (ascetic)
• Ashrama (Varnashrama Dharma)

More Details (3 sections)

FAQs

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

It does not directly define Ātman metaphysically; it emphasizes niyata-ātman—self-restraint—as the practical foundation for an ascetic life aligned with dharma, which supports higher realization taught elsewhere in the Kurma Purana.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

The verse highlights yogic discipline indirectly through niyatātman (sense-control and inner regulation) and yati-dharma (renunciate conduct), presenting regulated livelihood (alms or fruits/roots) as a support for sustained practice and contemplation.

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

This verse is procedural (yati sustenance) and does not mention Śiva-Viṣṇu explicitly; within the Kurma Purana’s broader synthesis, such dharma-guidance is treated as compatible with both Śaiva (Pāśupata) and Vaiṣṇava paths of yoga and devotion.