Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 5
Invocation, Purāṇa Lakṣaṇas, Kurma at the Samudra-manthana, and Indradyumna’s Liberation Teaching
Iśvara-Gītā Prelude
भवन्तमेव भगवान् व्याजहार स्वयं प्रभुः / मुनीनां संहितां वक्तुं व्यासः पौराणिकीं पुरा
bhavantameva bhagavān vyājahāra svayaṃ prabhuḥ / munīnāṃ saṃhitāṃ vaktuṃ vyāsaḥ paurāṇikīṃ purā
至福的主宰——自为主、自在无依——唯独对你亲自开示；而在古时，精通《普拉那》的毗耶娑曾为诸牟尼宣说那部普拉那汇编。
Sūta (narrator) recounting the transmission of the Purāṇa
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: vira
FAQs
Indirectly: by stressing “Bhagavān” as svayaṃ prabhuḥ (self-sovereign), it frames the Supreme as independent and authoritative—the ultimate source behind the teaching that later clarifies Ātman/Brahman.
No specific practice is taught in this verse; it establishes the authoritative setting of instruction (śāstra-pravacana and guru-paramparā), which in the Kurma Purāṇa later supports disciplines such as Pāśupata-oriented yoga, devotion, and contemplative knowledge.
It does not name Śiva or Viṣṇu explicitly, but by grounding the Purāṇic teaching in “Bhagavān” and Vyāsa’s samhitā, it sets the Kurma Purāṇa’s inclusive theological frame in which sectarian teachings are harmonized under one supreme authority.