Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 97
Invocation, Purāṇa Lakṣaṇas, Kurma at the Samudra-manthana, and Indradyumna’s Liberation Teaching
Iśvara-Gītā Prelude
कथं सृष्टमिदं पूर्वं कथं संह्रियते पुनः / कियत्यः सृष्टयो लोके वंशा मन्वन्तराणि च / कानि तेषां प्रमाणानि पावनानि व्रतानि च
kathaṃ sṛṣṭamidaṃ pūrvaṃ kathaṃ saṃhriyate punaḥ / kiyatyaḥ sṛṣṭayo loke vaṃśā manvantarāṇi ca / kāni teṣāṃ pramāṇāni pāvanāni vratāni ca
“此宇宙最初如何被创造，又如何再度归于消融？世间有多少种创造，诸王族世系（vaṃśa）与诸摩奴时代（Manvantara）为何？其尺度与权威依据（pramāṇa）是什么，又有哪些相应的净化誓行（vrata）？”
Sage (inquiry to Suta/Vyasa lineage narrator in the Purva-bhaga frame)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
Indirectly: by asking how creation and dissolution occur, the verse points toward a single underlying reality that manifests the cosmos and withdraws it—an Atman/Ishvara principle later articulated in the Kurma Purana’s synthetic Shaiva-Vaishnava theology.
No specific yoga technique is named in this verse; it prepares the ground for teachings where purification (pāvanāni vratāni) and authoritative guidance (pramāṇāni) support disciplined practice—key prerequisites for Pashupata-oriented sadhana and contemplative inquiry in the text.
It does not name Shiva or Vishnu explicitly; however, its cosmological inquiry aligns with the Kurma Purana’s broader approach where one supreme Ishvara is responsible for both emanation and reabsorption, allowing Shaiva and Vaishnava expressions to be read as convergent.