Sanatkumāra in the Kūrma Purāṇa
Sanatkumāra · sanat-kumāra, “the eternal youth”
Sanatkumāra is one of the four eternal Kumāras, the mind-born sons of Brahmā. In the Kūrma Purāṇa he is the teacher of Virochana. Virochana is the righteous asura king, the son of Prahlāda and the father of Bali Cakravartī. Bhagavān Vishṇu himself sent Sanatkumāra to the capital of the asura king. There Sanatkumāra taught him the most secret teaching, the ātmajñāna-rūpa dharma (the dharma that is knowledge of the ātmā).
Who he is
Sanatkumāra is one of four famous Kumāras. They are the eternal mind-born sons of Brahmā. From the moment of their birth they refused to take part in the work of creation. They chose instead to stay absorbed in the knowledge of Brahman. The Kūrma Purāṇa lists them among the first creations of Brahmā:
Brahmā created Sanandana, Sanaka, then Ṛbhu, Sanatkumāra, and the eternal Sanātana-pūrvapurusha.
The text then says that all of them had the highest vairāgya (non-attachment). They knew the greatness of the jñāna-mārga (the path of knowledge) and fixed their minds wholly on it.
The Kumāras stay for age after age as children of five years in form. Their eternal youth and brahmacarya are a first sign of the highest renunciation. They carry the oldest wisdom.
In the Kūrma Purāṇa Sanatkumāra is addressed as yogīśvara (lord of yogīs), bhagavān (the revered one), svayaṃ brahma-vettā (one who knows Brahman himself) and brahma-mānasaputra (mind-born son of Brahmā). When Sanatkumāra came, Virochana said: “You are a brahma-vettā (knower of Brahman), and one may say you are Brahmā himself. I am honoured by your coming.”
The teaching to Virochana
Sanatkumāra came to the city of Virochana, the righteous asura king and son of Prahlāda. Bhagavān Vishṇu himself had sent him. Sanatkumāra praised Virochana’s dharma: “The excellence of conduct that you keep is very rare, even among rākshasas. No one in the three worlds walks in dharma as you do.”
Virochana asked Sanatkumāra to teach him the highest of all dharmas. The muni then taught him the ātmajñāna-rūpa dharma. The Purāṇa describes it as “the most secret of all secrets, the one without equal, the knowledge of the ātmā as the highest dharma.”
The result changed Virochana. He gained great jñāna. He gave the muni the proper guru-dakshiṇā (gift to a teacher). He handed the kingdom to his son Bali and went wholly into the practice of yoga (yoga-sādhanā).
His place in the higher worlds
The Kūrma Purāṇa also names Sanatkumāra among the eternal dwellers of the highest lokas. Describing the realm of Brahmā and the holy ground of Prayāga, the text says: “Sanatkumāra and others, Indra and the other lokapālas (guardians of the worlds), the pitṛ-devas (devas of the ancestors), and the brahmarshis all live in that loka.” So he is a lasting dweller of the highest worlds, and creation and dissolution do not touch him in the usual way.
In the Kūrma Purāṇa the teaching of Sanatkumāra is fully successful. Virochana gains true jñāna and goes on to live a life of yoga. The Purāṇa shows this as a complete handing on of knowledge.
Other Purāṇas speak of Sanatkumāra too. In the Varāha Purāṇa he receives the teaching of Bhūdevī. He composed the Sanat-kumārīya Upa-Purāṇa. In the Bhāgavata he takes part in the Jaya-Vijaya episode at Vaikuṇṭha.
Sources
- Kūrma Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 7
- Kūrma Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 17
- Kūrma Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 38