Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 19
Nine Creations (Sarga), Guṇa-Streams of Beings, and Brahmā’s Progeny in Cyclic Time
अग्रे ससर्ज वै ब्रह्मा मानसानात्मनः समान् / सनकं सनातनं चैव तथैव च सनन्दनम् / ऋभुं सनात्कुमारं च पूर्वमेव प्रजापतिः
agre sasarja vai brahmā mānasānātmanaḥ samān / sanakaṃ sanātanaṃ caiva tathaiva ca sanandanam / ṛbhuṃ sanātkumāraṃ ca pūrvameva prajāpatiḥ
在最初，生主梵天（Prajāpati Brahmā）先从自身之意念中，创造出与己相似的心生圣贤：萨那迦（Sanaka）、萨那檀那（Sanātana）、萨难陀那（Sanandana）、利布（Ṛbhu）与萨那特库玛罗（Sanatkumāra）。
Narrator (Purana-samvada frame; the text describes Brahma’s primordial creation)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
Indirectly: by stating that Brahmā creates “from himself” and produces beings “similar to himself,” the verse uses a cosmogonic analogy of emanation—effects arising from a prior cause—often employed in Purāṇic teaching to point toward the deeper metaphysical idea that all manifested orders depend upon an underlying source.
No specific practice is prescribed, but the named mind-born sages (especially the Kumāras) are paradigms of early renunciation and jñāna-oriented discipline; in Kurma Purana’s broader arc, such figures function as exemplars for later teachings on restraint, contemplation, and liberation that culminate in the Ishvara Gita and Pashupata-oriented devotion.
This verse is primarily cosmogonic and does not explicitly mention Śiva or Viṣṇu; however, within the Kurma Purana’s Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis, Brahmā’s role as secondary creator sits within a higher divine order that later chapters articulate through unified theistic teaching (Īśvara) rather than sectarian separation.