Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 1
Prākṛta-pralaya, Pratisarga Doctrine, and the Ishvara-Samanvaya of Yoga and Devotion
इति श्रीकूर्मपुराणे षट्साहस्त्र्यां संहितायामुपरिविभागे त्रिचत्वारिंशो ऽध्यायः कूर्म उवाच अतः परं प्रवक्ष्यामि प्रतिसर्गमनुत्तमम् / प्राकृतं हि समासेन शृणुध्वं गदतो मम
iti śrīkūrmapurāṇe ṣaṭsāhastryāṃ saṃhitāyāmuparivibhāge tricatvāriṃśo 'dhyāyaḥ kūrma uvāca ataḥ paraṃ pravakṣyāmi pratisargamanuttamam / prākṛtaṃ hi samāsena śṛṇudhvaṃ gadato mama
یوں شری کورم پران کی چھٹ ساہستری سنہتا کے اُتری بھاگ میں تریچتوارِمش ادھیائے۔ کورم نے کہا—اب اس کے بعد میں پرتِسَرگ، یعنی ثانوی سृष्टि کا بے مثال تَتْو، پرाकرت عمل سمیت اختصار سے بیان کروں گا؛ میری بات سنو۔
Lord Kūrma (Vishnu as the Tortoise incarnation)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
Indirectly: by introducing pratisarga as a “prākṛta” (Prakṛti-based) process, it implies that the Supreme principle is distinct from material nature and can authoritatively describe its re-manifestation; the Self is thus not reduced to matter or its transformations.
No specific practice is taught in this verse; it functions as a transition into cosmological teaching. In the Kurma Purana’s broader Upari-bhaga framework, such knowledge supports Yoga by clarifying Prakṛti’s evolutes, aiding dispassion (vairāgya) and discernment (viveka) central to liberation-oriented discipline.
While Shiva is not named here, the verse reflects the Purana’s integrative method: Vishnu as Lord Kūrma teaches a cosmology often articulated in shared Sāṃkhya-Yoga terms used across Shaiva and Vaishnava traditions, preparing a non-sectarian metaphysical ground for later syntheses.