Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 40

Narmadā-tīrtha-māhātmya — Bhṛgu-tīrtha to Sāgara-saṅgama

Pilgrimage Circuit, Gifts, Fasting, and Imperishable Merit

Devanagari script

नर्मदां सेवते नित्यं स्वयं देवो महेश्वरः / तेन पुण्या नदी ज्ञेया ब्रह्महत्यापहारिणी

Transliteration

narmadāṃ sevate nityaṃ svayaṃ devo maheśvaraḥ / tena puṇyā nadī jñeyā brahmahatyāpahāriṇī

Translation

မဟာဒေဝ (ရှီဝ) ကိုယ်တိုင် နမ္မဒါကို အမြဲတမ်း ဆည်းကပ်ပြုစုတော်မူသည်။ ထို့ကြောင့် သူမသည် အလွန်သန့်ရှင်းသော မြစ်ဟု သိရမည်၊ ဘြဟ္မဟတ္တျာ (ဗြာဟ္မဏသတ်မှု) အပြစ်တောင် ဖယ်ရှားပေးနိုင်သည်။

Word by Word

• narmadām: Narmadā
• narmadām: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: narmadā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Dvitīyā, Ekavacana

• sevate: serves, worships
• sevate: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √sev (सेव् धातु)
• Form: Laṭ (Present), Prathama-puruṣa, Ekavacana; ātmanepada

• nityam: always
• nityam: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण/Adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nitya (प्रातिपदिक used adverbially)
• Form: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa-avyaya (क्रियाविशेषण/Adverb) from adjective in accusative neuter singular

• svayam: himself
• svayam: Karta-prayoga-dyotaka (कर्तृप्रयोगद्योतक/Emphasis on agent)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: svayam (अव्यय)
• Form: Nipāta/avyaya meaning ‘oneself’

• devaḥ: the god
• devaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana

• maheśvaraḥ: Maheśvara (Śiva)
• maheśvaraḥ: Apposition (समनाधिकरण/Predicate apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā-īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana; karmadhāraya ‘mahān īśvaraḥ’

• tena: therefore, by that
• tena: Hetu (हेतु/Cause)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma, Puṃ/Napuṃ, Tṛtīyā (Instrumental), Ekavacana

• puṇyā: meritorious, holy
• puṇyā: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: puṇya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana; viśeṣaṇa of nadī

• nadī: river
• nadī: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nadī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana

• jñeyā: to be known (as)
• jñeyā: Vidheyaviśeṣaṇa (विधेयविशेषण/Predicative)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jñeya (कृदन्त; √jñā धातु, तव्यत्)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana; gerundive (भाव्य/तव्यत्) ‘to be known/considered’

• brahmahatyā-apahāriṇī: remover of brahma-murder sin
• brahmahatyā-apahāriṇī: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: brahma-hatyā (प्रातिपदिक) + apahāriṇī (कृदन्त; apa-√hṛ धातु, णिनि)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana; ṣaṣṭhī-tatpuruṣa ‘brahmahatyāyāḥ apahāriṇī’

Speaker

Lord Kurma (Vishnu) instructing about tirtha-mahatmya within the Purva-bhaga narrative frame

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Characters & Entities

• Narmada
• Maheshvara (Shiva)
• Brahmahatya

More Details (4 sections)

FAQs

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

By portraying Śiva Himself as honoring the Narmadā, the verse implies that the sacred (tīrtha) is not merely physical: it participates in divine presence, and contact with it purifies the inner self (ātmā) by dissolving heavy karmic burdens.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

The practice implied is tīrtha-sevā—reverent attendance, worship, and disciplined pilgrimage—used as a purificatory aid (śuddhi) that supports higher sādhana such as japa, dhyāna, and Pāśupata-oriented devotion found elsewhere in the Kurma Purana.

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

Within the Kurma Purana’s synthetic theology, a Vaiṣṇava narrator can proclaim Śiva’s devotion to a sacred river, reinforcing mutual reverence and functional unity between Śiva and Viṣṇu rather than sectarian opposition.