Prāyaścitta for Mahāpātakas: Liquor, Theft, Sexual Transgression, Contact with the Fallen, and Homicide
उदक्यागमने विप्रस्त्रिरात्रेण विशुध्यति / चाण्डालीगमने चैव तप्तकृच्छ्रत्रयं विदुः / सह सांतपनेनास्य नान्यथा निष्कृतिः स्मृता
udakyāgamane viprastrirātreṇa viśudhyati / cāṇḍālīgamane caiva taptakṛcchratrayaṃ viduḥ / saha sāṃtapanenāsya nānyathā niṣkṛtiḥ smṛtā
หากพราหมณ์ร่วมประเวณีกับหญิงที่มีระดู เขาจะบริสุทธิ์ได้หลังจากผ่านไปสามราตรี แต่หากเขาร่วมประเวณีกับหญิงจัณฑาล ผู้รู้กำหนดให้บำเพ็ญตบะตัปตากฤจฉระสามครั้ง พร้อมกับพิธีสางตปนะ ไม่มีวิธีไถ่บาปอื่นใด
Traditional Purāṇic narrator (instructional dharma discourse within the Kurma Purana)
Primary Rasa: bibhatsa
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
This verse does not directly teach ātman-metaphysics; it frames dharma as purification (śuddhi) through disciplined expiation, which in the Purāṇic system supports inner clarity needed for higher knowledge and yoga.
No explicit meditative technique is taught here; instead, it emphasizes prāyaścitta (kṛcchra, sāṃtapana) as ethical-ritual self-restraint, a preparatory discipline that Purāṇas often treat as a foundation for yoga and steadiness of mind.
The verse is primarily dharma-legal and does not mention Śiva or Viṣṇu explicitly; within the Kurma Purana’s broader Shaiva-Vaishnava synthesis, such dharma prescriptions function as shared normative groundwork for devotion and yoga across both traditions.