Shloka 1
Īśvara-gītā: Bhakti as the Supreme Means; the Three Śaktis; Non-compelled Lordship
इति श्रीकूर्मपुराणे षट्साहस्त्र्यां संहितायामुपरिविभागे (ईश्वरगीतासु) तृतीयो ऽध्यायः ईश्वर उवाच वक्ष्ये समाहिता यूयं शृणुध्वं ब्रह्मवादिनः / माहात्म्यं देवदेवस्य येनेदं संप्रवर्तते
iti śrīkūrmapurāṇe ṣaṭsāhastryāṃ saṃhitāyāmuparivibhāge (īśvaragītāsu) tṛtīyo 'dhyāyaḥ īśvara uvāca vakṣye samāhitā yūyaṃ śṛṇudhvaṃ brahmavādinaḥ / māhātmyaṃ devadevasya yenedaṃ saṃpravartate
ดังนี้ ในศรีกูรมปุราณะ คัมภีร์รวมหกพันโศลก ในภาคหลัง—ภายในอีศวรคีตา—เริ่มบทที่สาม อีศวรตรัสว่า “โอ้ผู้ประกาศพรหมัน จงตั้งจิตแล้วสดับฟัง เราจักกล่าวมหิมาแห่งเทวะเหนือเทวะ ซึ่งโดยมหิมานั้นคำสอน/ธรรมนี้จึงดำเนินไป”
Ishvara (the Lord; in the Ishvara Gita context, Lord Kurma/Vishnu speaking with Shaiva-terminology of Devadeva)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
By addressing the listeners as brahmavādinaḥ and announcing a teaching grounded in the “greatness of Devadeva,” the verse frames the coming doctrine as Brahman-centered: the Supreme is the source by which the whole order of teaching and dharma proceeds.
The immediate practice is samādhāna—mental collectedness (samāhitāḥ). The verse sets a yogic tone: disciplined attention and inner steadiness are prerequisites for receiving the Ishvara Gita’s Pāśupata-oriented instruction.
The speaker is Īśvara in the Kurma Purana (a Vishnu/Kūrma setting) yet the focus is Devadeva, a strongly Shaiva epithet—signaling the text’s synthetic stance where the supreme Lord is praised through shared titles rather than sectarian separation.