Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 76

Narmadā–Tīrtha-Māhātmya: Sequence of Sacred Fords and Their Fruits

Devanagari script

दानं दद्याद् यथाशक्ति प्रीयेतां हरिशङ्करौ / एतत् तीर्थप्रभावेण सर्वं भवति चाक्षयम्

Transliteration

dānaṃ dadyād yathāśakti prīyetāṃ hariśaṅkarau / etat tīrthaprabhāveṇa sarvaṃ bhavati cākṣayam

Translation

မိမိတတ်နိုင်သမျှ ဒါနပေးကမ်းရမည်၊ ဟရီနှင့် ရှင်ကရ (Hari-Śaṅkara) နှစ်ပါး ပျော်ရွှင်စေရန်။ ဤတီရ္ထ၏ အာနုဘော်ကြောင့် ထိုကုသိုလ်အားလုံးသည် မပျက်မယွင်း အကျိုးအမြတ်အဖြစ် တည်မြဲလာသည်။

Word by Word

• dānam: a gift/charity
• dānam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन, नपुंसकलिङ्ग — object

• dadyāt: should give
• dadyāt: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dā (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन — 'should give'

• yathā-śakti: according to ability
• yathā-śakti: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय) + śakti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभावः — अव्ययवत् प्रयोगः 'according to (one's) ability'

• prīyetām: may be pleased (both)
• prīyetām: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: prī (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष, द्विवचन — 'may (they two) be pleased'

• hari-śaṅkarau: Hari and Śaṅkara
• hari-śaṅkarau: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hari (प्रातिपदिक) + śaṅkara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), द्विवचन (Dual), पुंलिङ्ग — द्वन्द्वः 'Hari and Śaṅkara'

• etat: this
• etat: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन, नपुंसकलिङ्ग — demonstrative pronoun

• tīrtha-prabhāveṇa: by the power of the sacred place
• tīrtha-prabhāveṇa: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक) + prabhāva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental), एकवचन, पुंलिङ्ग — तत्पुरुषः (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष) 'by the power of the tīrtha'

• sarvam: everything
• sarvam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन, नपुंसकलिङ्ग — 'everything'

• bhavati: becomes
• bhavati: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present Indicative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन — 'becomes/is'

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय (conjunction)

• akṣayam: imperishable, inexhaustible
• akṣayam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: akṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन, नपुंसकलिङ्ग — predicate adjective qualifying sarvam

Speaker

Lord Kūrma (as Viṣṇu), instructing on tīrtha-dharma and dāna

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: bhakti

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Characters & Entities

• Hari (Vishnu)
• Shankara (Shiva)
• Tirtha

More Details (4 sections)

FAQs

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

It does not define Ātman directly; it teaches that devotion expressed through dharmic action (dāna) pleases the Supreme as Hari and Śaṅkara, and that tīrtha-supported merit can become akṣaya (imperishable), pointing to a higher, enduring spiritual fruit beyond transient worldly results.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

The verse emphasizes karma-yoga in a dhārmic form—selfless giving within one’s capacity (yathāśakti) as a disciplined offering—supported by tīrtha-sevā (reverent engagement with sacred places), which the Purāṇic tradition treats as a purifier and merit-multiplier.

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

By naming them together as “Hari-Śaṅkara,” it presents a synthetic, non-sectarian vision: the same supreme devotion and righteous act can be offered to both, affirming harmony and functional unity between Vaiṣṇava and Śaiva devotion in the Kūrma Purāṇa.