Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 31

Cosmic Manifestation, Mahāmāyā’s Mandate, Varṇāśrama-Dharma, and the Unity of the Trimūrti

Devanagari script

पूर्वकल्पे प्रजा जाताः सर्वबादाविवर्जिताः / शुद्धान्तः करणाः सर्वाः स्वधर्मनिरताः सदा

Transliteration

pūrvakalpe prajā jātāḥ sarvabādāvivarjitāḥ / śuddhāntaḥ karaṇāḥ sarvāḥ svadharmaniratāḥ sadā

Translation

పూర్వకల్పంలో ప్రజలు అన్ని బాధల నుండీ విముక్తులై జన్మించారు; అందరి అంతఃకరణాలు శుద్ధమైనవి, మరియు వారు ఎల్లప్పుడూ తమ తమ స్వధర్మంలో నిమగ్నులై ఉండేవారు।

Word by Word

• pūrva-kalpe: in the former aeon
• pūrva-kalpe: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pūrva (प्रातिपदिक) + kalpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Locative (सप्तमी/7), Singular; कर्मधारयः ‘पूर्वः कल्पः’

• prajāḥ: creatures/subjects
• prajāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prajā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative/1, Plural

• jātāḥ: were born
• jātāḥ: Kriyā (क्रिया/विधेय)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √jan (धातु)
• Form: Past participle (क्त) used predicatively; Feminine, Nominative/1, Plural agreeing with prajāḥ

• sarva-bādā-vivarjitāḥ: free from all troubles
• sarva-bādā-vivarjitāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक) + bādā (प्रातिपदिक) + vivarjita (कृदन्त, √vṛj)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative/1, Plural; समासः: सर्वाः बाधाः (कर्म) + विवर्जित (क्त) ‘devoid of all afflictions’

• śuddha-antaḥ-karaṇāḥ: with purified inner organ (mind)
• śuddha-antaḥ-karaṇāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śuddha (प्रातिपदिक) + antaḥkaraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative/1, Plural; कर्मधारयः ‘शुद्धम् अन्तःकरणम् यस्याः’ (bahuvrīhi-like sense, but form treated as karmadhāraya compound adjective)

• sarvāḥ: all
• sarvāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative/1, Plural

• svadharma-niratāḥ: devoted to their own duty
• svadharma-niratāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sva (प्रातिपदिक) + dharma (प्रातिपदिक) + nirata (कृदन्त, √ram/√rañj?; lexical nirata)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative/1, Plural; तत्पुरुषः ‘स्वधर्मे निरताः’

• sadā: always
• sadā: Kāla-viśeṣaṇa (कालविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sadā (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb (कालवाचक अव्यय)

Speaker

Suta (narrator) recounting the cosmological condition of beings in an earlier kalpa within the Kurma Purana’s Purva-bhaga discourse

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Characters & Entities

• Prajā
• Svadharma
• Kalpa

More Details (4 sections)

FAQs

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

By stressing purified antaḥkaraṇa and freedom from affliction, the verse implies that suffering and impurity are conditions of the mind; when the inner faculties are pure, the Self’s clarity is unobstructed and one naturally abides in dharma.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

No specific technique is named; the verse highlights the yogic groundwork—śuddhi (purification of the inner instrument) and steady svadharma—seen in the Kurma Purana as the ethical and psychological basis for higher yoga (including later Pāśupata-oriented discipline).

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

It does not mention Shiva or Vishnu directly; it presents a shared puranic principle honored in both Shaiva and Vaishnava streams: purity of mind and steadfast dharma are the common foundation for realizing the one Supreme reality taught throughout the Kurma Purana.