Shloka 40
Meru-Topography: Cities of Brahmā and the Dikpālas; Descent of Gaṅgā; Varṣa-Lotus and Boundary Mountains
मर्यादापर्वताः प्रोक्ता अष्टाविह मया द्विजाः / जठराद्याः स्थिता मेरोश्चतुर्दिक्षु महर्षयः
maryādāparvatāḥ proktā aṣṭāviha mayā dvijāḥ / jaṭharādyāḥ sthitā meroścaturdikṣu maharṣayaḥ
Ó sábios duas-vezes-nascidos, aqui declarei as oito montanhas de limite. Começando por Jaṭhara e as demais, esses grandes ṛṣi estão postados ao redor do monte Meru nas quatro direções.
Lord Kurma (Vishnu) instructing the sages
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: vira
FAQs
This verse is primarily cosmographical, not directly Atman-doctrine; it frames a divinely ordered cosmos where Meru and its boundary-mountains function within an intelligible sacred order, a backdrop often used in the Purana to orient dharma and spiritual teaching.
No specific yoga practice is taught in this line; instead it supplies the sacred-geography framework that later supports pilgrimage, ritual orientation, and contemplative visualization of the cosmos—elements that complement Kurma Purana’s broader Shaiva-Vaishnava yogic instruction.
The verse does not mention Shiva explicitly; the synthesis is implicit in the Purana’s method—Vishnu (as Kurma) teaches a cosmos populated by rishis and sacred structures, a shared theological landscape later harmonized with Shaiva teachings (including Pashupata-oriented themes) elsewhere in the text.