Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 18
Yuga-Dharma: The Four Ages, Decline of Dharma, and the Rise of Social Order
ब्रह्मा कृतयुगे देवस्त्रेतायां भगवान् रविः / द्वापरे दैवतं विष्णुः कलौ रुद्रो महेश्वरः
brahmā kṛtayuge devastretāyāṃ bhagavān raviḥ / dvāpare daivataṃ viṣṇuḥ kalau rudro maheśvaraḥ
在克利多（Kṛta）劫，梵天（Brahmā）为主宰之神；在特雷塔（Tretā）劫，吉祥的太阳神罗毗（Ravi）为主。于德瓦帕罗（Dvāpara）劫，应礼敬者为毗湿奴（Viṣṇu）；而在迦梨（Kali）劫，鲁陀罗——大自在天（Maheśvara）——为主宰。
Sūta (narrator) to the sages at Naimiṣāraṇya (contextual narrator voice in Purāṇic transmission)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
It implies one supreme sacred order manifesting through different presiding forms across the yugas; the focus shifts in worshipful emphasis, while divinity remains the ultimate ground behind these forms.
The verse itself is primarily theological (devatā-krama), but it supports a yuga-appropriate sādhana principle: align devotion, discipline, and worship with the dominant spiritual conditions of the age—an idea later systematized in the Kurma Purana’s Shaiva-leaning yogic and dharmic instructions.
By placing Viṣṇu as central in Dvāpara and Rudra-Maheśvara as central in Kali, it frames devotion as complementary rather than sectarian, consistent with the Kurma Purana’s tendency toward Shaiva-Vaishnava synthesis.