Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 23
Prāyaścitta for Mahāpātakas: Liquor, Theft, Sexual Transgression, Contact with the Fallen, and Homicide
न ह्यन्या निष्कृतिर्दृष्टा मुनिभिर्धर्मवादिभिः / तस्मात् पुण्येषु तीर्थेषु दहेद् वापि स्वदेहकम्
na hyanyā niṣkṛtirdṛṣṭā munibhirdharmavādibhiḥ / tasmāt puṇyeṣu tīrtheṣu dahed vāpi svadehakam
دھرم کے واعظ مُنیوں نے اس کے سوا کوئی اور کفّارہ نہیں دیکھا؛ اس لیے پُنّیہ تیرتھوں میں اپنے ہی بدن کو بھی آگ میں نذر کر کے جلا دینا چاہیے۔
Traditional narrator (Purāṇic discourse) presenting a Dharma-śāstric injunction within the Kurma Purana’s tīrtha/prāyaścitta context
Primary Rasa: raudra
Secondary Rasa: karuna
FAQs
Indirectly, it frames liberation-oriented purity through radical renunciation: when no lesser expiation remains, surrender of bodily identity at a tīrtha is presented as the final act of detachment—pointing to the Atman as distinct from the perishable body.
No specific āsana or dhyāna is named; the practice emphasized is prāyaścitta through tīrtha-sevā and extreme vairāgya (dispassion). In the Kurma Purana’s broader discipline, such purification supports steadiness for higher Yoga (including Pāśupata-oriented restraint and inner consecration).
It does not name Śiva or Viṣṇu explicitly, but it reflects the Purāṇa’s shared dharma-language: tīrtha, renunciation, and purification are upheld as universal means, compatible with both Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava paths within the Kurma Purana’s synthesis.