Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 40

Avimukta-Māhātmya — Vyāsa in Vārāṇasī and Śiva’s Secret Teaching of Liberation

Devanagari script

जन्ममृत्युजरामुक्तं परं याति शिवालयम् / अपुनर्मरणानां हि सा गतिर्मोक्षकाङ्क्षिणाम् / यां प्राप्य कृतकृत्यः स्यादिति मन्यन्ति पण्डताः

Transliteration

janmamṛtyujarāmuktaṃ paraṃ yāti śivālayam / apunarmaraṇānāṃ hi sā gatirmokṣakāṅkṣiṇām / yāṃ prāpya kṛtakṛtyaḥ syāditi manyanti paṇḍatāḥ

Translation

Освободившись от рождения, смерти и старости, достигают высшей обители Шивы — Шива-алайи. Это и есть путь ищущих мокшу: состояние без возвращения к смерти. Достигнув его, человек становится исполнившим всё должное; так утверждают учёные мудрецы.

Word by Word

• janma-mṛtyu-jarā-muktam: (that which is) free from birth, death, and old age
• janma-mṛtyu-jarā-muktam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: janman (प्रातिपदिक) + mṛtyu (प्रातिपदिक) + jarā (प्रातिपदिक) + mukta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √muc)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन); पञ्चमी-तत्पुरुष sense ‘freed from birth, death, and old age’

• paramam: supreme
• paramam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: parama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• yāti: goes/attains
• yāti: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: yā (धातु)
• Form: Present tense (लट्), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद)

• śiva-ālayam: Śiva’s abode
• śiva-ālayam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śiva (प्रातिपदिक) + ālaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (śivasya ālayaḥ)

• apunarmaraṇānām: of those who have no rebirth (no dying again)
• apunarmaraṇānām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: a-punar-maraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural (बहुवचन); अव्ययीभाव with punar as avyaya: ‘no-again-death’

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha/Emphasis (सम्बन्ध/बल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (निपात)

• sā: that (she/it)
• sā: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

• gatiḥ: path/goal
• gatiḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gati (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

• mokṣa-kāṅkṣiṇām: of those who desire liberation
• mokṣa-kāṅkṣiṇām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mokṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + kāṅkṣin (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √kāṅkṣ)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural (बहुवचन); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष ‘desirers of mokṣa’

• yām: which (goal)
• yām: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• prāpya: having attained
• prāpya: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: āp (धातु; pra-upasarga)
• Form: Absolutive/Gerund (ल्यप्)

• kṛta-kṛtyaḥ: one who has fulfilled all duties
• kṛta-kṛtyaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛta (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √kṛ) + kṛtya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); कर्मधारय ‘one whose duty is done’

• syāt: would be
• syāt: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: as (धातु)
• Form: Optative (विधिलिङ्), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद)

• iti: thus
• iti: Vākyārtha-marker (वाक्यार्थचिह्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: Quotative particle (उद्धरण-निपात)

• manyanti: think/consider
• manyanti: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: man (धातु)
• Form: Present tense (लट्), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Plural (बहुवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद)

• paṇḍitāḥ: the learned
• paṇḍitāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: paṇḍita (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन)

Speaker

Lord Kurma (Vishnu) instructing the sages (contextual narrator framework of the Kurma Purana)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Characters & Entities

• Shiva
• Moksha

More Details (4 sections)

FAQs

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

It frames the supreme attainment as a state beyond birth, death, and aging—i.e., liberation (mokṣa) where all existential compulsion ends, described as reaching Śiva’s supreme abode.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

This verse emphasizes the fruit of yogic and devotional discipline—apunar-maraṇa (no return to death). In the Kurma Purana’s Shaiva-yogic register, such freedom is classically linked with Śiva-bhakti and Pāśupata-oriented inner renunciation culminating in mokṣa.

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

With Vishnu (as Kūrma) presenting Śiva’s abode as the supreme destination, the text reflects a synthetic theology: devotion and liberation are affirmed through Śiva while taught within a Vaiṣṇava narrative frame.