Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 31

Prayāga-māhātmya — The Greatness of Prayāga and the Discipline of Pilgrimage

Devanagari script

व्याधितो यदि वा दीनः क्रूद्धो वापि भवेन्नरः / गङ्गायमुनमासाद्य त्यजेत् प्राणान् प्रयत्नतः

Transliteration

vyādhito yadi vā dīnaḥ krūddho vāpi bhavennaraḥ / gaṅgāyamunamāsādya tyajet prāṇān prayatnataḥ

Translation

无论其人患病、困苦，或为嗔怒所胜；一旦抵达恒河与亚穆纳河的汇合处，当以坚决之志在彼处舍离生命之息。

Word by Word

• vyādhitaḥ: diseased
• vyādhitaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vyādhita (प्रातिपदिक; कृदन्त from vyādh/ādhī)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; Nominative singular; ‘afflicted/ill’

• yadi: if
• yadi: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yadi (अव्यय)
• Form: सम्बन्धबोधक-अव्यय (conditional particle)

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पार्थक निपात (disjunctive particle)

• dīnaḥ: wretched/poor
• dīnaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dīna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; Nominative singular

• krūddhaḥ: angry
• krūddhaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kruddha (प्रातिपदिक; past participle of krudh)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; Nominative singular

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पार्थक निपात (disjunctive particle)

• api: even/also
• api: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle), additive/emphatic

• bhavet: may be
• bhavet: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; parasmaipada

• naraḥ: a man
• naraḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; Nominative singular

• gaṅgā-yamunam: Ganga and Yamuna (confluence/paired rivers)
• gaṅgā-yamunam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: gaṅgā (प्रातिपदिक) + yamunā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वन्द्व-समास (इतरेतर-द्वन्द्व); स्त्रीलिङ्ग-द्वयसमाहारः, द्वितीया, एकवचन (समाहार-द्वन्द्व नपुंसकवत्) / here as object; Accusative singular of compound

• āsādya: having reached
• āsādya: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā + sad (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त (gerund) with upasarga ‘ā’; ‘having reached/approached’

• tyajet: should give up
• tyajet: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: tyaj (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; parasmaipada

• prāṇān: life-breaths / life
• prāṇān: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prāṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; Accusative plural

• prayatnataḥ: with effort/earnestly
• prayatnataḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: prayatna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तसिल्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (ablatival adverb) ‘from/with effort’ → adverb ‘earnestly’

Speaker

Sūta (narrator) conveying the Kurma Purana’s tīrtha-māhātmya teaching in the sages’ dialogue frame

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: karuna

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Characters & Entities

• Gaṅgā
• Yamunā
• Prayāga (implicit confluence)

More Details (4 sections)

FAQs

How does this verse explain the nature of the Supreme Self (Atman)?

Indirectly: by praising intentional relinquishing of life at a tīrtha, it assumes the Self is not destroyed with the body and that liberation is aided by purity of place and final intention (saṅkalpa), aligning with Purāṇic soteriology.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

The verse points to disciplined renunciation at life’s end—akin to prayopaveśa (religiously regulated fasting unto death) performed with resolve at a sacred confluence—emphasizing restraint, intention, and purification rather than a posture-based yoga practice.

How does this verse depict the relationship between Shiva and Vishnu?

Not explicitly; yet the tīrtha-māhātmya framework is shared across Shaiva–Vaishnava Purāṇas, reflecting the Kurma Purana’s synthetic outlook where sacred geography and liberation are upheld as common dharmic means beyond sectarian boundaries.