Kurma Purana — Uttara Bhaga, Shloka 17
Naimiṣa-kṣetra-prādurbhāva and Jāpyeśvara-māhātmya — Nandī’s Birth, Japa, and Consecration
प्रीतस्तस्य महादेवो देव्या सह पिनाकधृक् / ददावात्मसमानत्वं मृत्युवञ्चनमेव च
prītastasya mahādevo devyā saha pinākadhṛk / dadāvātmasamānatvaṃ mṛtyuvañcanameva ca
摩诃提婆——执持毗那迦者——与女神同在，因其欢喜，赐予他与自身神性等同之境，并赐能巧避、胜越死亡之力。
Narrator (Purāṇic narrator continuing the Kurma Purana account; Śiva is the agent of the boon)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: vira
FAQs
By using the term ātma-samānatva, the verse frames liberation-like attainment as sharing in Śiva’s own nature—an elevated state of spiritual identity/likeness granted through divine grace rather than mere worldly reward.
The verse itself states the fruit—Śiva’s prasāda (grace) yielding ātma-samānatva and freedom from death—implying the Pāśupata-leaning discipline of devotion, austerity, and contemplative surrender that culminates in the Lord’s bestowal of siddhi and spiritual elevation.
While Viṣṇu is not named in this line, the Kurma Purana’s broader Shaiva-Vaishnava synthesis treats such boons as expressions of the one Supreme’s grace; Śiva’s gift of ātma-samānatva aligns with the Purāṇic non-dual tendency to see ultimate liberation as participation in the same highest reality.