Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 4
Rules of Food, Acceptance, and Purity for the Twice-Born
Dvija-Śauca and Anna-Doṣa
राजान्नं नर्तकान्नं च तक्ष्णो ऽन्नं चर्मकारिणः / गणान्नं गणिकान्नं च षण्ढान्नं चैव वर्जयेत्
rājānnaṃ nartakānnaṃ ca takṣṇo 'nnaṃ carmakāriṇaḥ / gaṇānnaṃ gaṇikānnaṃ ca ṣaṇḍhānnaṃ caiva varjayet
بادشاہ کا کھانا، رقّاص کا کھانا، بڑھئی کا کھانا، چمڑا کار کا کھانا؛ نیز گَणوں (مندر کے خادموں) کا کھانا، گَणِکا کا کھانا اور شَṇḍھ کا کھانا—ان سب سے پرہیز کرنا چاہیے۔
Lord Kūrma (Vishnu) instructing sages on dharma (dietary purity as a support for sādhana)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
FAQs
Indirectly: it teaches āhāra-śuddhi (purity of intake) as a dharmic support for sattva and mental clarity, which are prerequisites for steady contemplation of the Self (ātma-jñāna) in later, more explicitly yogic teachings.
The verse highlights preparatory discipline rather than a technique: regulating one’s sources of food to preserve ritual and psychological purity, a common foundation for japa, dhyāna, and Pāśupata-oriented sādhana emphasized elsewhere in the Kūrma Purāṇa.
By presenting dharma and purity-observances as universal supports for spiritual practice, it aligns with the Purāṇa’s Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis: the same ethical and purificatory foundations are upheld for devotion and yoga directed to Īśvara, whether articulated through Vishnu (Kūrma) or Shiva-centered disciplines.