Shri Agni Mahapuran with Illustrations

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

The Agni Purana is a mahapurana. It usually figures eighth in the list of eighteen. There are about fifteen and a half thousand shlokas in the Agni Purana.

The Agni Purana is a tamasika Purana. The others in this group are the Matsya, Kurma, Linga, Shiva and Skanda Puranas.

Particulary the Shri Agni Mahapurana, offers a tremendous amount of information which is very intersting. It is really amazing to find that many norms still hold true in our lives. Since this Purana deals with various walks of cur life in quite a comprehensive way, nothing has been left untouched. It is hoped that this Purana shall be given even warmer welcome than what was accorded to our earlier works.

The author is particularly grateful to Dr. P.K. Tripathi (M.A. Sanskrit) and Mr. Rajiv Tiwari of Shivam Publications whose crusade to keep our cultural roots strong has few parallels in this highly commercial world.

Agni Purana, occupies an important place among the most popular works in the Mahapuranas, exceptionally for its scientific tracts. It is also called Agneya-Purana and is narrated by Suta (Lomaharsana), a disciple of Vyasa, who received it from Vasistha to whom it was communicated by Agni. It consists of Sixteen thousand stanzas distributed in three hundred and eighty-three chapters.

The contents of this Purana clearly show that it has no sectarial leaning. It impartially treats of Vaisnava, Shiva and Shakta forms of worship. It is more a compendium of Sanskrit learning than the advocacy of any particular form of religion. The early chapters of this Purana describe the Avataras and in those of Rama and Krishna, avowedly follow the Ramayana and Mahabharata.

The numberless obsolete rites, ceremonials and mantras described in this Purana, are of no interest to a general reader. But the chapters on medicine, materia medica and pharmacy as well as those on the treatment of elephants and horse diseases are highly interesting. Besides, an exhaustive account of paravidya and the science of Brahman occurs in this Purana. It is a very interesting account and will prove highly useful to the readers. It can virtually be regarded as an Encyclopaedia of Hinduism, teaching as it does among others many subjects such as cosmogony, religion, law and much legendary matter etc. which, to a Hindu, assumes the value of history and geographical matter such as description of various places of pilgrimage.