Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 13
Bhūrloka-Vyavasthā — The Seven Dvīpas, Seven Oceans, and the Meru-Centered Order of Jambūdvīpa
नवसाहस्त्रमेकैकमेतेषां द्विजसत्तमाः / इलावृतं च तन्मध्ये तन्मध्ये मेरुरुच्छ्रितः
navasāhastramekaikameteṣāṃ dvijasattamāḥ / ilāvṛtaṃ ca tanmadhye tanmadhye merurucchritaḥ
اے بہترین دُو بار جنم لینے والو! ان میں سے ہر ایک کا پھیلاؤ نو ہزار یوجن ہے۔ ان کے بیچ ایلاوِرت ہے، اور ایلاوِرت کے عین مرکز میں بلند و بالا کوہِ مِیرو قائم ہے۔
Suta (narrator) conveying the Purana’s cosmography to the sages (traditional frame)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
Indirectly: by presenting Meru as the unmoving center of the cosmic order, the verse supports a Purāṇic contemplative model where the seeker meditates on a stable “center,” analogous to the steady Atman amidst changing worlds.
No explicit yoga technique is taught here; however, Kurma Purana’s broader contemplative method often uses sacred geography (Meru as the central axis) as an aid to dhyāna—training attention toward inner steadiness and cosmic order.
This verse is primarily cosmographic and does not name Shiva or Vishnu; within the Kurma Purana’s Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis, such cosmology is treated as a shared divine order upheld by the one Supreme reality revered through both traditions.