Editing Kurma (section)

== Symbolism ==
[[File:Kurmavatara (tortoise incarnation of Vishnu), from Garhwa, Allahabad District.jpg|thumb|Kurmavatara, tortoise incarnation of Vishnu, from Garhwa, Prayagraj District]]
[[File:Varaha, Kurma and Krishna (6125139812).jpg|thumb|250x250px|Kurma with [[Shesha|Sesa]] holding the Earth (left), [[Varaha]] (right), and [[Vishnu]] (below, centre).|alt=]]

The Dashavataras are compared to evolution; Kurma - the amphibian - is regarded the next stage after [[Matsya|Matysa]], the fish.{{sfn|Nanditha_Krishna|2009|p=39}}

'''Firmness / Steadiness:''' W. Caland notes that in relation to 'Akupara Kashyapa' in the [[Brahmana|Pancavimsa Brahmana]] and Jaiminiya Brahmana, the tortoise is equal to 'a firm standing... and Kashyapa (The Tortoise) is able to convey (them) across the sea [of material existence]'.<ref name=":41" /> P.N. Sinha seems to support this view, adding 'Kurma was a great Avatara as He prepared the way for the spiritual regeneration of the universe, by the Churning of the [[Kshir Sagar|Ocean Of Milk]]'.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sinha |first=Purnendu Narayan |url=https://archive.org/details/studyofbhagavata00benaiala |title=A study of the Bhagavata Purana; or, Esoteric Hinduism |date=1901 |publisher=Benares |pages=[https://archive.org/details/studyofbhagavata00benaiala/page/432 432]}}</ref>

'''Deity [[Yajna]]-[[Purusha]]:''' N. Aiyangar states that as the tortoise was 'used as the very basis of the fire [[Altar]], the hidden invisible tortoise, taken together with the altar and the sacred fire, seems to have been regarded as symbolizing the Deity Yajna-Purusha who is an invisible spiritual god extending from the fire altar up to heaven and everywhere... this seems to be the reason why the tortoise is identified with the sun'.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.217324|title=Essays On Indo Aryan Mythology|last=Narayan Aiyangar|date=1901|pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.217324/page/n211 211]-220}}</ref>

'''Meditation / Churning the Mind:''' Aiyangar also surmises that the legend of the [[Samudra manthan|Samudra Manthana]] symbolises churning the mind through [[Meditation]] to achieve liberation ([[Moksha]]). Based on the mention of ''Vatarasanaḥ'' ('Girdled By The Wind') [[Muni (Saint)|Munis]] in the [[Aranyaka|Taittirtya Aranyaka]] - also referred to as ''urdhvamanthin'', meaning 'those who churn upwards' - and the explanation provided in the [[Shvetashvatara Upanishad]], Aiyangar believes this would 'appear to be the hidden pivot on which the gist of the riddle of the [[Puranas|Puranic]] legend about the [[Samudra manthan|Churning For Nectar]] turns'.<ref name=":1" /> R. Jarow seems to agree, stating the churning of the Ocean of Milk represents the 'Churning Of The [[Dualism (Indian philosophy)|Dualistic]] Mind'.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qJ_tiIqjyxAC&q=churning+bhagavata+purana+most+developed&pg=PA79|title=Tales for the Dying: The Death Narrative of the Bhagavata-Purana|last=Jarow|first=Rick|date=2012-02-01|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-8745-7|page=79|language=en|access-date=26 October 2020|archive-date=11 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511093058/https://books.google.com/books?id=qJ_tiIqjyxAC&q=churning+bhagavata+purana+most+developed&pg=PA79|url-status=live}}</ref>

'''[[Asceticism|Ascetic]] [[Penance]]:''' [[Horace Hayman Wilson|H.H. Wilson]] notes that 'the account [of the Samudra Manthana] in the [[Harivamsa|Hari Vamsa]]... is explained, by the commentator, as an [[Allegory]], in which the churning of the ocean typifies ascetic penance, and the [[Ambrosia]] is final [[Moksha|Liberation]]' (Linking With The Idea Of 'Steadiness' And 'Firmness'), but personally dismisses this interpretation as 'Mere Mystification' (Note 1, pp.&nbsp;146).{{sfn|Wilson|1862|pp=[https://archive.org/details/worksbylatehorace06wils/page/58 58] (Chapter IV), 135-151 (Chapter IX)}}

'''[[Astronomy]]:''' B.G. Sidharth states that the legend of the [[Samudra manthan|Samudra Manthana]] symbolises astronomic phenomena, for example that 'Mandara represents the polar regions of Earth [and the] Churning Rope, [[Vasuki]], symbolizes the slow annual motion of Earth... [[Vishnu]], or the Sun himself rests upon a coiled snake... which represents the rotation of the Sun on its own axis'. In regards to the tortoise supporting the Earth, Sidharth adds that the 'Twelve Pillars... are evidently the twelve months of the year, and... The four elephants on which Earth rests are the Dikarin, the sentinels of the four directions.. [Kurma] symbolizes the fact that Earth is supported in space in its annual orbit around the Sun'.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9VooDwAAQBAJ&q=B.G.+Sidharth+churning+earth&pg=PP49|title=The Celestial Key to the Vedas: Discovering the Origins of the World's Oldest Civilization|last=Sidharth|first=B. G.|date=1999-10-01|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-59477-523-9|pages=X-XII|language=en|access-date=26 October 2020|archive-date=11 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511093058/https://books.google.com/books?id=9VooDwAAQBAJ&q=B.G.+Sidharth+churning+earth&pg=PP49|url-status=live}}</ref>