Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 1
Bhūrloka-Vyavasthā — The Seven Dvīpas, Seven Oceans, and the Meru-Centered Order of Jambūdvīpa
इती श्रीकूर्मपुराणे षट्साहस्त्र्यां संहितायां पूर्वविभागे द्विचत्वारिंशो ऽध्यायः सूत उवाच एतद् ब्रह्माण्डमाख्यातं चतुर्दशविधं महत् / अतः परं प्रवक्ष्यामि भूर्लोकस्यास्य निर्णयम्
itī śrīkūrmapurāṇe ṣaṭsāhastryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ pūrvavibhāge dvicatvāriṃśo 'dhyāyaḥ sūta uvāca etad brahmāṇḍamākhyātaṃ caturdaśavidhaṃ mahat / ataḥ paraṃ pravakṣyāmi bhūrlokasyāsya nirṇayam
Assim, no Śrī Kūrma Purāṇa, na Saṃhitā de seis mil versos, no Pūrvabhāga, conclui-se o quadragésimo segundo capítulo. Disse Sūta: “Este vasto brahmāṇḍa, o grande ovo cósmico dividido em quatorze regiões, já foi descrito; agora exporei o relato estabelecido deste Bhūrloka, o mundo terrestre.”
Sūta
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
This verse does not directly define Ātman; it frames a cosmological teaching—moving from the fourteenfold brahmāṇḍa to a precise account of Bhūrloka—preparing the ground on which dharma and spiritual pursuit (leading to Ātma-jñāna) are later situated.
No specific yoga practice is taught in this line; it is a structural transition. By mapping the cosmos and Bhūrloka, the text establishes the sacred-geographical and dharmic context in which later disciplines (including Pāśupata-oriented devotion and yogic restraint) are meaningfully practiced.
The verse itself is neutral and introductory, but its Purāṇic method—cosmology leading to dharma and liberation—fits the Kūrma Purāṇa’s broader synthesis where the same supreme reality is approached through both Vaiṣṇava and Śaiva theological lenses.