Editing Kurma (section)

== Nomenclature and etymology ==
The [[Sanskrit]] word 'Kurma' ([[Devanagari]]: कूर्म) means 'Tortoise' and 'Turtle'.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?mode=3&script=hk&tran_input=kurma&direct=au&anz=100|title=Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit: 'Kurma'|website=spokensanskrit.org|access-date=2019-12-24}}</ref>  The tortoise incarnation of Vishnu is also referred to in post-Vedic literature such as the [[Bhagavata Purana]] as 'Kacchapam' (कच्छप), 'Kamaṭha' (कमठ), 'Akupara' (अकूपार), and 'Ambucara-Atmana' (अम्बुचर-आत्मना), all of which mean 'tortoise' or 'form of a tortoise'.'''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?mode=3&script=hk&tran_input=kacchapam&direct=au&anz=100|title=Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit: 'kacchapam'|website=spokensanskrit.org|access-date=2019-12-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/kamatha|title=Kamatha, Kamaṭha: 5 definitions|last=www.wisdomlib.org|date=2018-05-29|website=www.wisdomlib.org|access-date=2019-12-13|archive-date=6 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206090920/https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/kamatha|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?mode=3&script=hk&tran_input=akupara&direct=au&anz=100|title=Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit: 'Akupara'|website=spokensanskrit.org|access-date=2019-12-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sanskritdictionary.com/ambucara-%C4%81tman%C4%81/18479/3|title=Sanskrit Dictionary: 'ambucara-ātmanā'|website=www.sanskritdictionary.com|access-date=2019-12-24|archive-date=1 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230901110908/https://www.sanskritdictionary.com/ambucara-%C4%81tman%C4%81/18479/3|url-status=live}}</ref>'''
=== The Nirukta ===
Written by the [[grammar]]ian [[Yāska|Yaska]], the [[Nirukta]] is one of the six [[Vedanga]]s or 'limbs of the [[Vedas]]', concerned with correct [[etymology]] and interpretation of the Vedas. The entry for the Tortoise states (square brackets '[ ]' are as per the original author):{{blockquote|May we obtain that illimitable gift of thine. The sun is called [[World Turtle|akupara]] also, i. e. unlimited, because it is immeasurable. The ocean, too, is called akupara, i. e. unlimited, because it is boundless. A tortoise is also called a-kupa-ara, because it does not move in a well [On account of its shallowness]. Kacchapa (tortoise) is (so called because) it protects (pati) its mouth (kaccham), or it protects itself by means of its shell (kacchena), or it drinks (√pa) by the mouth. Kaccha (mouth or shell of a tortoise) <nowiki>=</nowiki> kha-ccha, i. e. something which covers (chddayatl) space (kham). This other (meaning of) kaccha, 'a bank of a river', is derived from the same (root) also, i.e. water (kam) is covered (chadyate) by it.|source=The Nighantu and the Nirukta [of Yaska], translated by Lakshman Sarup (1967), Chapter 4, Section 18<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/nighantuniruktao00yaskuoft|title=The Nighantu and the Nirukta|last1=Yaska|last2=Sarup|first2=Lakshman|date=1967|publisher=Delhi Motilal Banarsidass|others=Robarts - University of Toronto|pages=[https://archive.org/details/nighantuniruktao00yaskuoft/page/64 64]}}</ref>|author=|title=}}

=== Kashyapa ===
As illustrated below, [[Vedas|Vedic]] literature such as the [[Samaveda]] and [[Yajurveda]] explicitly state Akupara/Kurma and the sage [[Kashyapa]] are [[Synonym]]ous. Kashyapa - also meaning 'Tortoise' - is considered the [[Progenitor]] of all living beings with his thirteen wives, including vegetation, as related by H.R. Zimmer:

{{blockquote|Ira [meaning 'fluid']... is known as the queen-consort of still another old creator-god and father of creatures, Kashyapa, the Old Tortoise Man, and as such she is the mother of all [[vegetable]] life.|source=Myths And Symbols In Indian Art And Civilization by Heinrich Robert Zimmer, 1946), Chapter 6<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/HeinrichRobertZimmerMythsAndSymbolsInIndianArtAndCivilization|title=Heinrich Robert Zimmer Myths And Symbols In Indian Art And Civilization|pages=[https://archive.org/details/HeinrichRobertZimmerMythsAndSymbolsInIndianArtAndCivilization/page/n118 104]|language=en}}</ref>}}

The legend of the churning of the [[Kshir Sagar|Ocean of Milk]] ([[Samudra manthan|Samudra Manthana]]) developed in post-Vedic literature is itself inextricably linked with Kurma (as the base of the churning rod) and involves other sons of Kashyapa: the [[Deva (Hinduism)|devas]]/[[Âdityas|adityas]] (born from [[Aditi]]) and the [[asura]]s/[[Danava (Hinduism)|Danavas]]/[[Daitya]]s (born from [[Danu (Asura)|Danu]] and [[Diti]]) use one of the [[Nāga|Naga]] (born from [[Kadru]]) as a churning rope to obtain [[Amrita]]. [[Garuda]], the king of birds and mount of [[Vishnu]], is another son of Kashyapa (born from [[Vinata]]) often mentioned in this legend. In another, Garuda seeks the [[Amrita]] produced (eating a warring [[Supratika#Vibhvasu and Supratik|Elephant And Tortoise]] in the process) to free his mother and himself from enslavement from Kadru.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}

=== Yoga ===
'''Kurmasana''' (Tortoise Posture) is a [[Yoga as exercise|Yoga]] posture. ''''Panikacchapika'''' (Sanskrit पाणिकच्छपिका), meaning 'Hand Tortoise','''<ref name=":44">{{cite web|url=http://spokensanskrit.org/index.php?tran_input=phaNikA&direct=se&script=hk&link=yes&mode=3|title=Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit: 'Panikacchapika'|website=spokensanskrit.org|access-date=2019-12-20}}</ref>''' is a special positioning of the fingers during worship rituals to symbolise Kurma. The '''Kurmacakra''' is a [[Yantra]], a mystical diagram for worship,<ref name=":45">{{cite web|url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/kurmacakra|title=Kurmacakra, Kūrmacakra, Kurma-cakra: 1 definition|last=www.wisdomlib.org|date=2019-02-05|website=www.wisdomlib.org|access-date=2019-12-20|archive-date=20 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220165824/https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/kurmacakra|url-status=live}}</ref> in the shape of a tortoise. These are all mentioned in the [[Upanishads]] and [[Puranas]] (see below).{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}