Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 4
Puṣkara-dvīpa, Lokāloka, and the Measure of the Brahmāṇḍa
Cosmic Egg
तस्मिन् द्वीपे स्मृतौ द्वौ तु पुण्यौ जनपदौ शुभौ / अपरौ मानसस्याथ पर्वतस्यानुमण्डलौ / महावीतं स्मृतं वर्षं धातकीखण्डमेव च
tasmin dvīpe smṛtau dvau tu puṇyau janapadau śubhau / aparau mānasasyātha parvatasyānumaṇḍalau / mahāvītaṃ smṛtaṃ varṣaṃ dhātakīkhaṇḍameva ca
Sa dvīpa na iyon, inaalala ang dalawang mapalad at banal na lupain: ang isa’y tinatawag na Mānasya, at ang isa nama’y ang pook na pumapalibot sa bundok. Doon, ang varṣa ay kilala bilang Mahāvīta, at tinatawag din na Dhātakīkhaṇḍa.
Suta (narrating the Purana to the sages at Naimisharanya, describing cosmic geography as transmitted in the Kurma Purana tradition)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
This verse is primarily cosmographical rather than directly metaphysical; it supports the Purana’s broader vision that the ordered world (dvīpas, varṣas, and sacred regions) is a structured manifestation within dharma, against which Atman-knowledge and liberation teachings are later framed.
No specific Yoga practice is taught in this verse; instead, it maps sacred and meritorious regions, which in Purāṇic religion function as supports for dharma—places associated with pilgrimage, vows, and contemplative discipline that complement later Kurma Purana teachings on Pāśupata-oriented sādhanā.
The verse does not explicitly mention Shiva or Vishnu; indirectly, it participates in the shared Purāṇic cosmology used by both Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava traditions, providing a common sacred geography in which the Kurma Purana’s synthesis of devotion and discipline is situated.