Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 6
Mādhayameśvara-māhātmya — Vyāsa at Mandākinī and the Pāśupata Vision
ततः पाशुपताः शान्ता भस्मोद्धूलितविग्रहाः / द्रष्टुं समागता रुद्रं मध्यमेश्वरमीश्वरम्
tataḥ pāśupatāḥ śāntā bhasmoddhūlitavigrahāḥ / draṣṭuṃ samāgatā rudraṃ madhyameśvaramīśvaram
随后，安寂的帕舒帕塔奉者们，身披圣灰，齐来聚集，为瞻礼鲁陀罗——自在的主宰、中住之主摩地耶梅湿伐罗、至上伊湿伐罗，居于一切众生之中为内在统御者。
Sūta (narrator) recounting the scene to the sages (Naimiṣāraṇya frame)
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
By calling Rudra “madhyameśvara,” the verse points to the Lord present ‘in the middle’—within all beings as the indwelling ruler (antaryāmin), aligning devotion to Rudra with realization of the inner Self governed by Īśvara.
The verse signals Pāśupata discipline: śānti (inner calm), ascetic purity, and the emblematic use of bhasma (sacred ash) as a marker of renunciation and continual remembrance of impermanence—preparing the practitioner for darśana (direct spiritual encounter) with Rudra.
It presents Rudra as the supreme Īśvara and inner ruler, a framing consistent with the Kurma Purana’s synthesis where sectarian forms converge in one sovereignty—supporting the Purana’s broader Shaiva-Vaishnava non-contradiction.