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The Kurma Purana, one of the major eighteen Puranas
Puranas

The Puranas are a group of important Hindu religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography....
, is a Hindu religious text. It is believed to have been directly narrated by the Lord Vishnu
Vishnu

Vishnu , , is the Supreme God in Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of panchadeva, and his supreme status is declared in the Hindu sacred texts like Yajurveda, the Rigveda and the Bhagavad Gita....
 to the sage Narada
Narada

Narada or Narada Muni is a divine sage from the Hindu tradition, who plays a prominent role in a number of the Puranic texts, especially in the Bhagavata Purana, and in the Ramayana....
, and it contains the details about the Kurma
Kurma

In Hinduism, Kurma was the second avatar of Vishnu. Like the Matsya Avatara also belongs to the Satya yuga....
 avatara. Narada is believed to have stated the contents of this Puranas to Suta, who narrated this Purana to an assembly of great sages.

printed editions of this text are divided into two s (parts), the and the .






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The Kurma Purana, one of the major eighteen Puranas
Puranas

The Puranas are a group of important Hindu religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography....
, is a Hindu religious text. It is believed to have been directly narrated by the Lord Vishnu
Vishnu

Vishnu , , is the Supreme God in Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of panchadeva, and his supreme status is declared in the Hindu sacred texts like Yajurveda, the Rigveda and the Bhagavad Gita....
 to the sage Narada
Narada

Narada or Narada Muni is a divine sage from the Hindu tradition, who plays a prominent role in a number of the Puranic texts, especially in the Bhagavata Purana, and in the Ramayana....
, and it contains the details about the Kurma
Kurma

In Hinduism, Kurma was the second avatar of Vishnu. Like the Matsya Avatara also belongs to the Satya yuga....
 avatara. Narada is believed to have stated the contents of this Puranas to Suta, who narrated this Purana to an assembly of great sages.

The contents

The printed editions of this text are divided into two s (parts), the and the . The has 53 chapters and the has 46 chapters.

According to the tradition, the originally consisted of four s (sections): the , the , the and the . The extant text would correspond to the .

The (I.106. 1-22) gives a brief overview of these four sections. According to this work, the consisted of 6,000 s (verses) and its contents agrees completely with the extant . The consisted of 4,000 s and was divided into five s (sub-sections). It was also known by the sobriquet the . This section had dealt with the duties of the Brahmin
Brahmin

Brahmin is the class of educators, law makers, scholars and preachers of Dharma in Hinduism. It is said to occupy the highest position among the varna in Hinduism of Hinduism....
s, Kshatriya
Kshatriya

Kshatriya is one of the four varna in Hinduism in Hinduism. It constitutes the military and ruling order of the traditional Vedic-Hindu social system as outlined by the Vedas and the Laws of Manu....
s, Vaishya
Vaishya

The Hindu varnas system, a Vaishya is a member of the third of the four classes of traditional Indian society. It comprises merchants, artisans, and cultivators....
s, Shudra
Shudra

Shudra is the lowest Varna in the traditional four-section division in the Hindu caste system. Their assigned and expected role in post-Vedic civilization India was that of farmers, craftsmen and labourers....
s and the mixed castes. The had 2,000 s and was divided into six s. This section had dealt with the six magic acts: , , stambhana, , and . The had 5,000 s and was divided into four s dealing with .

Further reading

  • Mani, Vettam. Puranic Encyclopedia. 1st English ed. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1975.


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