Shloka 57
Prāyaścitta for Mahāpātakas: Liquor, Theft, Sexual Transgression, Contact with the Fallen, and Homicide
फलदानां तु वृक्षाणां छेदने जप्यमृक्शतम् / गुल्मवल्लीलतानां तु पुष्पितानां च वीरुधाम्
phaladānāṃ tu vṛkṣāṇāṃ chedane japyamṛkśatam / gulmavallīlatānāṃ tu puṣpitānāṃ ca vīrudhām
ఫలదాయక వృక్షాలను నరికితే శత ఋక్మంత్రాల జపం చేయాలి। అలాగే పుష్పించిన గుల్మాలు, వల్లీలు, లతలు మరియు పుష్పించిన వీరుధలను నరికినప్పటికీ అదే జపవిధి విధించబడింది।
Sūta (narrator) conveying the Kurma Purana’s dharma-teaching on prāyaścitta
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
Indirectly: it frames dharma as restraint and reverence for life-supporting beings; such ethical purification supports inner clarity (śuddhi) that is traditionally held to be necessary for realizing the Atman.
Mantra-japa (recitation) is prescribed as prāyaścitta. In the broader Kurma Purana ethos, disciplined japa functions as a purifying practice that steadies the mind and aligns action with dharma—an ethical base compatible with Pāśupata-oriented sādhana.
It does not explicitly mention Shiva–Vishnu unity; instead it presents a shared dharmic framework—Vedic mantra-japa and ahiṃsā—common to both Shaiva and Vaishnava practice in the Kurma Purana’s synthetic religious landscape.