Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 51

Kali-yuga Doṣas, the Supremacy of Rudra as Refuge, and the Closure of the Manvantara Teaching

Devanagari script

इत्येतल्लक्षणं प्रोक्तं युगानां वै समासतः / अतीतानागतानां वै यावन्मन्वन्तरक्षयः

Transliteration

ityetallakṣaṇaṃ proktaṃ yugānāṃ vai samāsataḥ / atītānāgatānāṃ vai yāvanmanvantarakṣayaḥ

Translation

Như vậy, một cách tóm lược, các đặc tướng của các yuga đã được giảng nói—cả những yuga đã qua và những yuga sẽ đến—cho đến khi kết thúc một Manvantara (thời đại của Manu).

Word by Word

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/वाक्य-समाप्ति)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; quotation/closure particle (इति-प्रयोगः)

• etat: this
• etat: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: etad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; सर्वनाम-विशेषणम्

• lakṣaṇam: characteristic/definition
• lakṣaṇam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: lakṣaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• proktam: has been stated
• proktam: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vac (धातु) + kta (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (Past passive participle, क्त), Neuter, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; used predicatively with etat lakṣaṇam

• yugānām: of the ages (yugas)
• yugānām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yuga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural (बहुवचन)

• vai: indeed
• vai: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vai (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; emphasis particle (निश्चयार्थक)

• samāsataḥ: in brief / succinctly
• samāsataḥ: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: samāsatas (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; adverb (संक्षेपेण)

• atīta-anāgatānām: of the past and future (ones)
• atīta-anāgatānām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: atīta + anāgata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्वः (अतीतानि च अनागतानि च) used adjectivally with yugānām (understood)

• vai: indeed
• vai: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vai (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; emphasis particle

• yāvat-manvantara-kṣayaḥ: until the end of a manvantara
• yāvat-manvantara-kṣayaḥ: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yāvat (अव्यय) + manvantara + kṣaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; अव्ययीभाव-समासः (यावद्-मन्वन्तरक्षयः = until the end of a manvantara)

Speaker

Narrator/Sage (Purana narrator continuing the discourse on yuga-dharma)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Characters & Entities

• Manvantara
• Yuga

More Details (3 sections)

FAQs

How does this verse explain the nature of the Supreme Self (Atman)?

Indirectly: it frames reality through vast cycles of time (yuga and manvantara), within which spiritual inquiry into the Self is situated; the verse itself mainly concludes a cosmological description rather than defining Ātman.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

No specific practice is prescribed in this verse; it functions as a concluding marker to the yuga-description, providing the temporal framework in which dharma and yogic discipline are traditionally taught in the Kurma Purana.

How does this verse depict the relationship between Shiva and Vishnu?

It does not explicitly mention Śiva or Viṣṇu; its contribution is structural—placing later Shaiva-Vaishnava synthesis teachings (including Pāśupata-oriented instruction elsewhere) within an ordered cosmology of yugas and manvantaras.