Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 29

Prāyaścitta for Mahāpātakas: Liquor, Theft, Sexual Transgression, Contact with the Fallen, and Homicide

Devanagari script

सखिभार्यां समारुह्य गत्वा श्यालीं तथैव च / अहोरात्रोषितो भूत्वा तप्तकृच्छ्रं समाचरेत्

Transliteration

sakhibhāryāṃ samāruhya gatvā śyālīṃ tathaiva ca / ahorātroṣito bhūtvā taptakṛcchraṃ samācaret

Translation

မိတ်ဆွေ၏ ဇနီးနှင့်လည်းကောင်း၊ မိမိ၏ စော်ဖက်မ (ညီအစ်ကို၏ ဇနီး) နှင့်လည်းကောင်း လိင်ဆက်ဆံခဲ့သူသည် တစ်နေ့တစ်ည ပင်နန့်အဖြစ် နေထိုင်ပြီးနောက် တပ္တကೃच्छရ (Taptakṛcchra) အပြစ်ဖြေဝတ်ကို သင့်တော်စွာ ကျင့်ရမည်။

Word by Word

• सखि-भार्याम्: (to) a friend’s wife
• सखि-भार्याम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सखि (प्रातिपदिक) + भार्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (कर्म), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (सख्याः भार्या)

• समारुह्य: having mounted/approached
• समारुह्य: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-आ-रुह् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (Gerund), पूर्वकालिक क्रिया; धातु: रुह्, उपसर्ग: सम्+आ

• गत्वा: having gone
• गत्वा: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (Gerund), पूर्वकालिक क्रिया

• श्यालीम्: (to) the sister-in-law
• श्यालीम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्याली (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• तथा: likewise
• तथा: Kriya-vishesana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक क्रियाविशेषण (adverb)

• एव: indeed/just
• एव: Sambandha/Emphasis (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारणार्थक-निपात (particle of emphasis)

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक-निपात (conjunction)

• अहोरात्र-उषितः: having stayed for a day and night
• अहोरात्र-उषितः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अहोरात्र (प्रातिपदिक) + उषित (कृदन्त, वस्/उष् धातोः)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी/सप्तमी-तत्पुरुषसदृशः (अहोरात्रे उषितः = अहोरात्र-उषितः); कृदन्त: क्त (past participle)

• भूत्वा: having become
• भूत्वा: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (Gerund), पूर्वकालिक क्रिया

• तप्त-कृच्छ्रम्: the ‘taptakṛcchra’ penance
• तप्त-कृच्छ्रम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तप्त (कृदन्त, तप् धातोः) + कृच्छ्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (तप्तं कृच्छ्रं = तप्तकृच्छ्रम्)

• समाचरेत्: should perform
• समाचरेत्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-आ-चर् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम; उपसर्ग: सम्+आ

Speaker

Sūta (narrator) recounting Vyāsa’s dharma-teaching on prāyaścitta to the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: bibhatsa

Secondary Rasa: raudra

Characters & Entities

• Vyasa
• Suta
• Naimisharanya
• Dharma
• Taptakricchra

More Details (3 sections)

FAQs

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

This verse is primarily dharmic and juridical rather than metaphysical: it treats wrongdoing as a moral impurity that must be purified through prāyaścitta, implying that inner clarity conducive to realizing the Self is protected by ethical restraint and disciplined atonement.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

The practice highlighted is a vrata-based austerity (Taptakṛcchra), a tapas-oriented discipline used as expiation. In the Kurma Purana’s broader spiritual frame, such tapas supports self-control (saṃyama) and purification (śuddhi), which are foundational supports for mantra, japa, and higher yogic concentration.

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

This specific verse does not directly discuss Shiva–Vishnu unity; it reflects shared purāṇic dharma where ethical order and expiation are upheld across Shaiva-Vaishnava traditions, forming the moral groundwork on which later syntheses (including Ishvara-centered devotion and yoga) are taught.