Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 55
Kali-yuga Doṣas, the Supremacy of Rudra as Refuge, and the Closure of the Manvantara Teaching
नमश्चकार तमृषिं कृष्णद्वैपायनं प्रभुम् / सर्वज्ञं सर्वकर्तारं स्क्षाद् विष्णुं व्यवस्थितम्
namaścakāra tamṛṣiṃ kṛṣṇadvaipāyanaṃ prabhum / sarvajñaṃ sarvakartāraṃ skṣād viṣṇuṃ vyavasthitam
เขากราบนอบน้อมต่อฤๅษีกฤษณทไวปายนะ ผู้เป็นพระอาจารย์วยาส—ผู้รู้ทั่ว ผู้กระทำทุกสิ่ง และตั้งมั่นเป็นพระวิษณุโดยตรงในรูปปรากฏ
Narrator (Purana’s sūta-style narrative voice describing an act of reverence)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
By identifying Vyāsa as “sākṣād Viṣṇu,” the verse points to the Purāṇic view that the Supreme can be directly present in a realized teacher—omniscient and universally efficacious—revealing the Atman/Iśvara not merely as abstract, but as manifest guidance.
The verse foregrounds bhakti and śraddhā as foundational disciplines: reverence to the guru-sage (Vyāsa) is treated as a yogic purifier that stabilizes the seeker for higher practices (dhyāna, jñāna, and disciplined conduct) emphasized across the Kurma Purana’s dharma-yoga teachings.
While explicitly Vaishnava in naming Viṣṇu, the Kurma Purana’s broader synthesis treats the Supreme as one reality approached through multiple divine forms; honoring Vyāsa as the manifest Lord aligns with the text’s non-sectarian tendency to see unity of divinity beyond outward names.