Kurma Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 14

Brahmā’s Lotus-Birth, the Sealing of the Cosmic Womb, and the Epiphany of Parameśvara

Hari–Hara Samanvaya

Devanagari script

अस्मिन्नेकार्णवे घोरे निर्जने तमसावृते / एकाकी को भवाञ्छेते ब्रूहि मे पुरुषर्षभ

Transliteration

asminnekārṇave ghore nirjane tamasāvṛte / ekākī ko bhavāñchete brūhi me puruṣarṣabha

Translation

在这可怖的一海之中，荒寂无人，幽暗笼罩；你是谁，竟独自卧于此处？告知于我，噫，人中雄牛。

Word by Word

• asmin: in this
• asmin: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative (7 विभक्ति), Singular; सर्वनाम

• eka-arṇave: in the single ocean
• eka-arṇave: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक) + arṇava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Locative (7), Singular; कर्मधारय-समासः ‘eka-arṇava’ = ‘single ocean’

• ghore: terrible
• ghore: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ghora (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Locative (7), Singular; agrees with ‘arṇave’

• nirjane: desolate, uninhabited
• nirjane: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nirjana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Locative (7), Singular; agrees with ‘arṇave’

• tamasā-āvṛte: covered with darkness
• tamasā-āvṛte: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tamas (प्रातिपदिक) + āvṛta (कृदन्त; ā-√vṛ/वृ, क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Locative (7), Singular; तत्पुरुष-समासः (tamasā āvṛta = ‘covered by darkness’); agrees with ‘arṇave’

• ekākī: alone
• ekākī: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ekākin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1), Singular; used predicatively of ‘bhavān’

• kaḥ: who?
• kaḥ: Prashna-kartā (प्रश्न/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1), Singular; interrogative pronoun

• bhavān: you (sir)
• bhavān: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhavat (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1), Singular; honorific 2nd-person pronoun

• śete: lies, reclines
• śete: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √śī (धातु)
• Form: Laṭ (लट्; Present), 3rd person, Singular; Ātmanepada (आत्मनेपद)

• brūhi: tell (me)
• brūhi: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √brū (धातु)
• Form: Loṭ (लोट्; Imperative), 2nd person (मध्यमपुरुष), Singular; Parasmaipada

• me: to me
• me: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Dative (4 विभक्ति), Singular; enclitic pronoun

• puruṣa-ṛṣabha: O bull among men
• puruṣa-ṛṣabha: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: puruṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + ṛṣabha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative (8 विभक्ति), Singular; तत्पुरुष-समासः (puruṣāṇām ṛṣabhaḥ)

Speaker

A questioning sage (narrative interlocutor) addressing the solitary Supreme Being (Hari/Kurma-Vishnu) in the cosmic waters

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: bhayanaka

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Characters & Entities

• Ekarnava (primeval ocean)
• Tamas (darkness)
• Puruṣa (Supreme Person implied)

More Details (4 sections)

FAQs

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

By portraying the solitary presence in the primal flood, the verse points to an underlying, self-existent Puruṣa who remains when names and forms withdraw in pralaya.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

The image of the Lord ‘reposing’ in the darkness of dissolution evokes yogic withdrawal (pratyāhāra) and stillness—consciousness abiding alone when the world is absent.

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

Though this line addresses the solitary Supreme in the cosmic waters (a Vishnu-like pralaya motif), the Kurma Purana’s broader teaching reads such supremacy through a unified Ishvara lens, harmonizing Shaiva and Vaishnava idioms.