Shloka 4
Mādhayameśvara-māhātmya — Vyāsa at Mandākinī and the Pāśupata Vision
संतर्प्य विधिवद् देवानृषीन् पितृगणांस्तथा / पूजयामास लोकादिं पुष्पैर्नानाविधैर्भवम्
saṃtarpya vidhivad devānṛṣīn pitṛgaṇāṃstathā / pūjayāmāsa lokādiṃ puṣpairnānāvidhairbhavam
ต่อมาเขาได้บำรุงสังเวยให้เทพเจ้า ฤๅษี และหมู่บรรพชนตามพิธี แล้วจึงบูชาพวะ (ศิวะ) ผู้เป็นปฐมเหตุแห่งโลกทั้งปวง ด้วยดอกไม้นานาชนิด
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator describing the rite; within the Kurma Purana’s Shaiva-Vaishnava synthesis)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: bhakti
FAQs
By calling Bhava (Śiva) “lokādi” (the origin of the worlds), the verse points to a supreme causal principle behind manifestation; in the Purāṇic-theistic frame, the highest reality is approached as Īśvara—the source and support of all worlds—worshipped through right ritual action.
The verse emphasizes karmayoga-like discipline through vidhivat tarpaṇa and pūjā—purifying actions that steady the mind (citta-śuddhi) and prepare the practitioner for higher contemplative paths such as Pāśupata-oriented devotion, japa, and meditation taught elsewhere in the Kurma Purana.
Even in a Vaiṣṇava-framed Purāṇa, Śiva is honored as “lokādi,” reflecting the Kurma Purana’s integrative theology where devotion to Śiva is not opposed to Viṣṇu, but treated as a complementary expression of the one Īśvara revered through proper dharma and worship.