Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 10
Madhu–Kaiṭabha, Nārāyaṇa’s Yoga-Nidrā, Rudra’s Manifestation, and the Aṣṭamūrti–Trimūrti Teaching
सहस्त्रशीर्षनयनः शङ्खचक्रगदाधरः / ब्रह्मा नारायणाख्यो ऽसौ सुष्वाप सलिले तदा
sahastraśīrṣanayanaḥ śaṅkhacakragadādharaḥ / brahmā nārāyaṇākhyo 'sau suṣvāpa salile tadā
其时，那位名为那罗延（Nārāyaṇa）的梵天，具千首千眼，执螺、轮与杵，安卧于宇宙之水上。
Suta (narrator) recounting the cosmogonic account to the sages
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
By portraying Nārāyaṇa as the cosmic person with “a thousand heads and eyes,” the verse points to an all-pervading, all-knowing ground of being—an Atman/Brahman-like reality that contains and oversees creation even while remaining inwardly absorbed in yogic repose.
The key motif is yoga-nidrā (yogic sleep): not ordinary unconsciousness, but meditative withdrawal (pratyāhāra) and inward absorption (samādhi-like stillness) through which cosmic order is held in latency before manifestation—an idea compatible with later Pāśupata-oriented discipline emphasized in the Kurma tradition.
While explicitly Vaishnava in imagery (conch, discus, mace), the Kurma Purana’s broader synthesis allows this “cosmic lord in yogic absorption” to be read as the same supreme principle celebrated across names—supporting a non-sectarian, Shiva–Vishnu unity in the text’s theology.