Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 2

Prāyaścitta for Theft, Forbidden Foods, Impurity, and Ritual Lapses; Tīrtha–Vrata Remedies; Pativratā Mahātmyam via Sītā and Agni

Devanagari script

द्रव्याणामल्पसाराणां स्तेयं कृत्वान्यवेश्मतः / चरेत् सांतपनं कृच्छ्रं तन्निर्यात्यात्मशुद्धये

Transliteration

dravyāṇāmalpasārāṇāṃ steyaṃ kṛtvānyaveśmataḥ / caret sāṃtapanaṃ kṛcchraṃ tanniryātyātmaśuddhaye

Translation

အခြားသူ၏အိမ်မှ တန်ဖိုးနည်းသော ပစ္စည်းများကို ခိုးယူမိလျှင် «သာန္တပန ကೃစ္ဆရ» သန့်စင်တပဿာကို ဆောင်ရမည်။ ထိုတပဿာကြောင့် အပြစ်သည် ပြေငြိမ်း၍ ကိုယ်စိတ်သန့်စင်လာသည်။

Word by Word

• dravyāṇām: of goods/objects
• dravyāṇām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dravya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural (बहुवचन)

• alpasārāṇām: of low-value (items)
• alpasārāṇām: Vishesana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: alpa (अल्प, प्रातिपदिक) + sāra (सार, प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural (बहुवचन); कर्मधारय: ‘alpaḥ sāraḥ yeṣām’ (low-value)

• steyam: theft
• steyam: Karma (कर्म/object of kṛtvā)
• Type: Noun
• Root: steya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• kṛtvā: having done
• kṛtvā: Kriya (क्रिया/पूर्वक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (धातु) + ktvā (क्त्वा)
• Form: Absolutive/gerund (क्त्वान्त)

• anya-veśmataḥ: from another’s house
• anya-veśmataḥ: Apadana (अपादान/source)
• Type: Noun
• Root: anya (अन्य, प्रातिपदिक) + veśman (वेश्मन्, प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Ablative (5th/पञ्चमी), Singular (एकवचन); तत्पुरुष: ‘anyasya veśmanaḥ’

• caret: should perform
• caret: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: car (धातु)
• Form: Optative (विधिलिङ्), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन)

• sāṃtapanam: the sāṃtapana (penance)
• sāṃtapanam: Karma (कर्म/object of caret)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sāṃtapana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• kṛcchram: a kṛcchra penance
• kṛcchram: Karma (कर्म/apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛcchra (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन); in apposition to sāṃtapanam

• tat: that (penance)
• tat: Karma (कर्म/object of niryāti)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन); pronoun referring to the penance

• niryāti: removes/atones for
• niryāti: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: nir-yā (धातु)
• Form: Present tense (लट्), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन)

• ātmaśuddhaye: for self-purification
• ātmaśuddhaye: Sampradana (सम्प्रदान/purpose-dative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ātman (आत्मन्, प्रातिपदिक) + śuddhi (शुद्धि, प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Dative (4th/चतुर्थी), Singular (एकवचन); तत्पुरुष: ‘ātmanaḥ śuddhiḥ’

Speaker

Sūta (narrating the Kurma Purana’s dharma instructions as taught in the tradition)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: karuna

Characters & Entities

• Kurma Purana
• Sāntapana Kṛcchra
• Dharma
• Prāyaścitta

More Details (3 sections)

FAQs

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

It treats “ātma-śuddhi” (purification of the self) as essential: wrongdoing obscures inner clarity, and disciplined expiation restores fitness for dharma and spiritual practice.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

Rather than a meditation technique, it emphasizes prāyaścitta (austerity and self-restraint) as a preparatory purification—supporting steadiness (niyama/discipline) that undergirds Yoga in the Kurma Purana’s broader teaching.

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

It does not explicitly discuss Shiva–Vishnu unity; instead, it reflects the shared puranic-dharma principle—honoring ethical conduct and purification as foundations compatible with both Shaiva (Pāśupata) and Vaishnava paths.