Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 1
Time-Reckoning (Kāla-gaṇanā): Yugas, Manvantaras, Kalpas, and Prākṛta Pralaya
इति श्रीकूर्मपुराणे षट्साहस्त्र्यां संहितायां पूर्वंविभागे चतुर्थो ऽध्यायः श्रीकूर्म उवाच स्वयंभुवो विवृत्तस्य कालसंख्या द्विजोत्तमाः / न शक्यते समाख्यातुं बहुवर्षैरपि स्वयम्
iti śrīkūrmapurāṇe ṣaṭsāhastryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ pūrvaṃvibhāge caturtho 'dhyāyaḥ śrīkūrma uvāca svayaṃbhuvo vivṛttasya kālasaṃkhyā dvijottamāḥ / na śakyate samākhyātuṃ bahuvarṣairapi svayam
یوں شری کورم پران کی چھ ہزار شلوکوں والی سنہتا کے پوروَ بھاگ میں چوتھا ادھیائے۔ شری کورم نے فرمایا—اے بہترین دْوِجوں! سویمبھُووَ (منو) کے دور کے پھیلاؤ کی زمانہ شماری کو، بہت برسوں تک بیان کرنے پر بھی، میں خود بھی پوری طرح نہیں سنا سکتا۔
Lord Kūrma (Vishnu in the form of the Tortoise)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
By stressing that even vast cosmic time-counts are hard to exhaust in speech, the verse points to a reality beyond measure and enumeration—hinting that the Supreme (and the Self) transcends kāla and conceptual limits.
No specific technique is taught in this verse; its practical implication is yogic: cultivate vairāgya (dispassion) toward temporal calculations and turn the mind toward that which is beyond time—an orientation foundational to Purāṇic yoga and later Pāśupata-style renunciation.
Directly, it presents Viṣṇu as Kūrma teaching cosmic doctrine; indirectly, the emphasis on kāla and transcendence aligns with the Kurma Purana’s synthetic theology where the Supreme is approached through multiple divine forms (including Śiva and Viṣṇu) while remaining beyond time.