Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 47
Prākṛta Sṛṣṭi and Pralaya: From Pradhāna to Brahmāṇḍa; Trimūrti Samanvaya
एतावच्छक्यते वक्तुं मायैषा गहना द्विजाः / एतत् प्राधानिकं कार्यं यन्मया बीजमीरितम् / प्रजापतेः परा मूर्तिरितीयं वैदिकी श्रुतिः
etāvacchakyate vaktuṃ māyaiṣā gahanā dvijāḥ / etat prādhānikaṃ kāryaṃ yanmayā bījamīritam / prajāpateḥ parā mūrtiritīyaṃ vaidikī śrutiḥ
اے دِوِجوں! بس اتنا ہی کہا جا سکتا ہے کہ یہ مایا نہایت گہری اور ناقابلِ ادراک ہے۔ یہ پرادھان (پرکرتی) کا کارنامہ ہے؛ وہی بیج جسے میں نے بیان کیا۔ اور ویدک شروتی کہتی ہے کہ یہی پرجاپتی کی برتر صورت ہے۔
Lord Kurma (Vishnu) instructing the sages (dvijas)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
It implies a transcendent principle beyond Pradhāna and Māyā: Māyā is said to be “inscrutable,” while the “seed” of manifestation is taught as a causal doctrine grounded in Vedic śruti—pointing to a supreme source (Prajāpati’s highest form) that stands above the produced effects.
No specific practice is prescribed in this verse; it provides the metaphysical basis for Yoga by distinguishing the inscrutable Māyā and the prādhānika (material) effect from the supreme causal source—an essential discrimination (viveka) later applied in Kurma Purana’s Yoga-oriented teachings.
While neither Shiva nor Vishnu is named here, the verse supports the Purana’s synthetic theology by locating creation in a supreme causal reality affirmed by śruti; later Kurma Purana sections identify that supreme reality through unified Shaiva–Vaishnava language (Ishvara as the highest), with Māyā and Pradhāna treated as subordinate principles.