Koorma Puran By Dr. Vinay [DP]

Introduction

The Puranas form the very basis of the Indian psyche which forms the criterion to judge what is good or what is bad. This way their importance can be gainsaid. Their stories reveal the entire spectrum of human nature and the various good and bad conditions faced by men

The Kurma Purana comes under the Brahma category, containing the essence of all the Vedic teachings. In fact, the stories given in the Puranas reveal the interpretation that the ancient sages thought necessary to inform their sishyas about the real Vedic knowledge who were the avid but uninitiated learners. Koorma' means a tortoise. When the gods and demons decided to churn the ocean to retrieve the precious gems lying inside it, they had the Mount Mandarachala to whisk the ocean by using the snake Vasuki as the rope for stirring. But then the

problem was Mount kept on sinking into the ocean because there

wasn't any support underneath it. So with an intention to solve

this problem, Lord Vishnu took birth as a tortoise to provide support

to the mount-the stirrer'. This was the second incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Many ideologist scholars believe that the theory of the ten incarnation of Lord Vishnu verily reveals the Indian version of the theory of development. In the very beginning there was nothing but water. Hence the first two incarnations of Lord Vishnu were the aquatic beings that could move in water, Although the Koorma or tortoise is an aquatic being but can also live on the ground, unlike the first Fish' Incarnation of Lord Vishnu, which can move only in water Hence tortoise shows the second stage of the development of life on this planet.