Dāna-dharma: Types of Charity, Worthy Recipients, Vrata-Timings, and Śiva–Viṣṇu Propitiation
श्रोत्रियाय कुलीनाय विनीताय तपस्विने / वृत्तस्थाय दरिद्राय प्रदेयं भक्तिपूर्वकम्
śrotriyāya kulīnāya vinītāya tapasvine / vṛttasthāya daridrāya pradeyaṃ bhaktipūrvakam
شروتریہ، کُلیِن، منکسر، تپسوی اور نیک طریقے سے روزی کمانے والے غریب کو—بھکتی اور ادب کے ساتھ—دان دینا چاہیے۔
Lord Kūrma (Vishnu) instructing on dāna-dharma
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: karuna
Indirectly: by urging devotional, righteous giving, it teaches purification of the mind (citta-śuddhi), which is presented in the Kurma Purana as a key support for realizing the Self beyond ego and possessiveness.
The verse emphasizes karma-yoga in a dharmic form: selfless giving with bhakti. Such disciplined action supports inner purification, a prerequisite repeatedly linked in the Kurma Purana’s Yoga-oriented teaching stream (including Pāśupata-leaning ethics) to steadiness in meditation.
Though not naming Shiva, the teaching reflects the Purana’s synthesis: devotion (bhakti) and ascetic virtue (tapas) are honored as universally dharmic, aligning Vaishnava devotion with Shaiva-ascetic values rather than opposing them.