Shloka 4
Puṣkara-dvīpa, Lokāloka, and the Measure of the Brahmāṇḍa
Cosmic Egg
तस्मिन् द्वीपे स्मृतौ द्वौ तु पुण्यौ जनपदौ शुभौ / अपरौ मानसस्याथ पर्वतस्यानुमण्डलौ / महावीतं स्मृतं वर्षं धातकीखण्डमेव च
tasmin dvīpe smṛtau dvau tu puṇyau janapadau śubhau / aparau mānasasyātha parvatasyānumaṇḍalau / mahāvītaṃ smṛtaṃ varṣaṃ dhātakīkhaṇḍameva ca
तस्मिन् द्वीपे स्मृतौ द्वौ तु पुण्यौ जनपदौ शुभौ—एकः मानस्यमिति ख्यातः, अपरश्च पर्वतस्यानुमण्डलः। तत्र वर्षं महावीतं नाम, धातकीखण्डमिति च स्मृतम्।
Suta (narrating the Purana to the sages at Naimisharanya, describing cosmic geography as transmitted in the Kurma Purana tradition)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
This verse is primarily cosmographical rather than directly metaphysical; it supports the Purana’s broader vision that the ordered world (dvīpas, varṣas, and sacred regions) is a structured manifestation within dharma, against which Atman-knowledge and liberation teachings are later framed.
No specific Yoga practice is taught in this verse; instead, it maps sacred and meritorious regions, which in Purāṇic religion function as supports for dharma—places associated with pilgrimage, vows, and contemplative discipline that complement later Kurma Purana teachings on Pāśupata-oriented sādhanā.
The verse does not explicitly mention Shiva or Vishnu; indirectly, it participates in the shared Purāṇic cosmology used by both Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava traditions, providing a common sacred geography in which the Kurma Purana’s synthesis of devotion and discipline is situated.