Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 2
Puṣkara-dvīpa, Lokāloka, and the Measure of the Brahmāṇḍa
Cosmic Egg
एक एवात्र विप्रेन्द्राः पर्वतो मानसोत्तरः / योजनानां सहस्त्राणि सार्धं पञ्चाशदुच्छ्रितः / तावदेव च विस्तीर्णः सर्वतः परिमण्डलः
eka evātra viprendrāḥ parvato mānasottaraḥ / yojanānāṃ sahastrāṇi sārdhaṃ pañcāśaducchritaḥ / tāvadeva ca vistīrṇaḥ sarvataḥ parimaṇḍalaḥ
Hỡi các bậc Bà-la-môn tối thắng, nơi đây chỉ có một ngọn núi mang tên Manasottara. Núi cao một nghìn năm mươi do-tuần, bề ngang cũng đúng như vậy; nó tạo thành một vành tròn hoàn hảo bao quanh bốn phía.
Sūta (narrator) reporting the Purāṇic discourse to the sages (Naimiṣāraṇya frame)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
This verse is primarily cosmographical, describing Manasottara’s dimensions; it does not directly teach ātma-tattva, but it supports the Purāṇic vision of an ordered cosmos that later sections connect to divine governance and dharma.
No specific yoga practice is taught in this verse; it functions as a cosmology/geography passage. In the Kurma Purana, such ordered descriptions often provide the sacred-world framework within which pilgrimage, vrata, and later yogic disciplines (including Pāśupata-oriented teachings) are situated.
It does not explicitly mention Śiva or Viṣṇu. Indirectly, the shared Purāṇic cosmology is part of the text’s broader Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis, where the same cosmic order is attributed to the one supreme reality revered through multiple divine forms.