Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 22
Solar Rays, Planetary Nourishment, Dhruva-Bondage of the Grahas, and the Lunar Cycle
सप्तभिस्तपते मित्रस्त्वष्टा चैवाष्टभिस्तपेत् / अर्यमा दशभैः पाति पर्जन्यो नवभिस्तपेत् / षड्भी रश्मिसहस्त्रैस्तु विष्णुस्तपति विश्वसृक्
saptabhistapate mitrastvaṣṭā caivāṣṭabhistapet / aryamā daśabhaiḥ pāti parjanyo navabhistapet / ṣaḍbhī raśmisahastraistu viṣṇustapati viśvasṛk
మిత్రుడు ఏడు (కిరణ-సమూహాలతో) తపించి ప్రకాశిస్తాడు; త్వష్టా ఎనిమిదితో తపిస్తాడు. అర్యమా పదితో రక్షిస్తాడు; పర్జన్యుడు తొమ్మిదితో తపిస్తాడు. కానీ విశ్వసృష్టికర్త విష్ణువు ఆరు వేల కిరణాలతో తపించి వెలుగునిస్తుంది.
Sūta (narrator) recounting Purāṇic teaching on the Sun’s divine forms (Ādityas) and their rays
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
By presenting many solar deities yet culminating in Viṣṇu as the world-producing power, the verse points to a single supreme principle manifesting as multiple functions—unity behind apparent multiplicity, a common Purāṇic bridge toward understanding the Self as one reality expressed through many powers.
No explicit technique is prescribed, but the verse supports a contemplative practice (dhyāna) of the Sun’s powers as ordered manifestations of Īśvara—useful for ekāgratā (one-pointedness) and for integrating devotion (bhakti) with cosmological knowledge (jñāna) in the Kurma Purana’s broader spiritual program.
Even in a Vaishnava-identifying climax (Viṣṇu as viśva-sṛk), the teaching remains Purāṇically synthetic: divine functions are distributed among many names and powers, a framework the Kurma Purana often uses to harmonize sectarian forms—Śiva and Viṣṇu—within one Īśvara-centered reality.