Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 4
Brahmā’s Lotus-Birth, the Sealing of the Cosmic Womb, and the Epiphany of Parameśvara
Hari–Hara Samanvaya
कथं च भगवाञ्जज्ञे ब्रह्मा लोकपितामहः / अण्डजो जगतामीशस्तन्नो वक्तुमिहार्हसि
kathaṃ ca bhagavāñjajñe brahmā lokapitāmahaḥ / aṇḍajo jagatāmīśastanno vaktumihārhasi
“Và Brahmā—Đấng Tổ phụ của các thế giới, bậc sinh từ trứng vũ trụ, chúa tể muôn loài—đã sinh ra thế nào? Xin Ngài giảng cho chúng con tại đây.”
Sages (addressing the narrator/teacher in the Kurma Purana dialogue)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
Indirectly: by asking for Brahmā’s origin, the verse points to a higher causal principle beyond the created lord (Brahmā)—the ultimate source that later Purāṇic teaching identifies with the supreme Īśvara who grounds both creation and liberation.
No practice is stated explicitly; the verse functions as a cosmological inquiry that supports later Kurma Purana instruction—where understanding the origin of the cosmos becomes part of right knowledge (jñāna) that steadies devotion and yogic discipline.
The verse itself names Brahmā and the cosmic egg, but its inquiry fits the Kurma Purana’s integrative approach: creation is traced to a supreme Īśvara, allowing later exposition to harmonize Shaiva and Vaishnava theologies under one ultimate source.