UpdateBot at 07:26, 28 May 2022

2022-05-28T07:26:09Z

New page

{{Short description|Medieval era encyclopedia}}
{{italic title}}
[[File:Agni Purana, Sanskrit, Devanagari.jpg|300px|thumb|upright=1.25|A page from an ''Agni Purana'' manuscript (Sanskrit, Devanagari)]]
{{Hindu scriptures}}
The '''''Agni Purana''''', ({{lang-sa|अग्नि पुराण}}, {{IAST|Agni Purāṇa}}) is a Sanskrit text and one of the eighteen major [[Purana]]s of [[Hinduism]].{{Sfn|Dalal|2014|p=10}} The text is variously classified as a Purana related to [[Shaivism]], [[Vaishnavism]], [[Shaktism]] and [[Smarta Tradition|Smartism]], but also considered as a text that covers them all impartially without leaning towards a particular theology.{{Sfn|Dalal|2014|p=10}}{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=20-22}}

The text exists in numerous versions, some very different from others.{{Sfn|Wilson|1864|p=LVIII-LX}} The published manuscripts are divided into 382 or 383 chapters, containing between 12,000 and 15,000 verses.{{Sfn|Wilson|1864|p=LVIII-LX}}{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=134-137}} The chapters of the text were likely composed in different centuries, with earliest version probably after the 7th-century,<ref name=thomasgreen282>Thomas Green (2001). ''Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO, {{ISBN|978-1576071502}}, page 282</ref><ref>Phillip B. Zarrilli. ''Paradigms of Practice and Power in a South Indian Martial Art''. University of Wisconsin-Madison.</ref> but before the 11th-century because the early 11th-century Persian scholar [[Al-Biruni]] acknowledged its existence in his memoir on India.{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=31, 136-137}} The youngest layer of the text in the ''Agni Purana'' may be from the 17th-century.{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=31, 136-137}}

The ''Agni Purana'' is a medieval era encyclopedia that covers a diverse range of topics, and its "382 or 383 chapters actually deal with anything and everything", remark scholars such as [[Moriz Winternitz]] and [[Ludo Rocher]].{{Sfn|Winternitz|1922|p=541}}{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=134-135}} Its encyclopedic secular style led some 19th-century Indologists such as [[Horace Hayman Wilson]] to question if it even qualifies as what is assumed to be a Purana.{{Sfn|Dalal|2014|pp=10, 145}}{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=79 with footnotes}} The range of topics covered by this text include [[cosmology]], mythology, genealogy, politics, education system, iconography, taxation theories, organization of army, theories on proper causes for war, martial arts,<ref name=thomasgreen282/> diplomacy, local laws, building public projects, water distribution methods, trees and plants, medicine,<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jagdish Lal Shastri|author2=Arnold Kunst|title=Ancient Indian Tradition & Mythology: The Agni Purana, Part 4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x99jAAAAMAAJ |year=1970|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0306-0 |page=xxx}}</ref> design and architecture,{{Sfn|Kramrisch|1976|p=96, 136 with footnotes}}<ref>{{cite book|author=James C. Harle|title=The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent|url=https://archive.org/details/artarchitectureo00harl|url-access=registration|year=1994|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-06217-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/artarchitectureo00harl/page/215 215]}}</ref> gemology, grammar, metrics, poetry, food and agriculture,<ref>{{cite book| author=VC Srivastava| title=History of Agriculture in India, Up to C. 1200 A.D.| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FvjZVwYVmNcC| year=2008|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-81-8069-521-6| page=839}}</ref> rituals, geography and travel guide to Mithila ([[Bihar]] and neighboring states), cultural history, and numerous other topics.{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=134-137}}

==History==
{{Quote box
|quote = '''Charity'''
<poem>
The Man Who Gratuitously Teaches Another,
A Craft Or A Trade Or Settles Upon Him A Property,
Whereby He Earns A Livelihood,
Acquires Infinite Merit.
</poem>
|source = —''Agni Purana 211.63'', Translator: MN Dutt<ref>MN Dutt, [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b4023049 Agni Purana Vol 2], Chapter CCXI, page 757</ref>
|bgcolor=#FFE0BB
|align = right
}}
Tradition has it that its title is named after Agni because it was originally recited by [[Agni]] to the sage [[Vasishta]] when the latter wanted to learn about the [[Brahman]], and Vasishta later recited it to Vyasa – the sage who compiled all the Vedas, Puranas and many other historic texts.{{Sfn|Wilson|1864|p=LVIII-LX}}{{Sfn|Hazra|1940|pp=134-136}} The ''Skanda Purana'' and ''Matsya Purana'' assert that the ''Agni Purana'' describes Isana-kalpa as described by god Agni, but the surviving manuscripts make no mention of Isana-kalpa.{{Sfn|Hazra|1940|pp=134-135}} Similarly, medieval Hindu texts cite verses that they claim are from Agni Purana, but these verses do not exist in current editions of the text.{{Sfn|Hazra|1940|pp=134-135}} These inconsistencies, considered together, have led scholars such as Rajendra Hazra to conclude that the extant manuscripts are different from the text Skanda and Matsya Puranas are referring to.{{Sfn|Hazra|1940|pp=134-135}}

The earliest core of the text is likely a post 7th-century composition, and a version existed by the 11th-century.{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=31, 136-137}}{{Sfn|Hazra|1940|pp=134-141}}{{Sfn|K P Gietz|1992|p=15 with note 73}} The chapters that discuss grammar and lexicography may be an addition in the 12th-century, while the chapters on metrics likely predate 950 CE because ''Pingala-sutras'' text by the 10th-century scholar Halayudha cites this text.{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|p=136}} The section on poetics is likely a post-900 CE composition,{{Sfn|K P Gietz|1992|p=344-345 with note 1897}} while its summary on Tantra is likely to be a composition between 800 and 1100 CE.{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=135-136}}

The Agni Purana exists in many versions and it exemplifies the complex chronology of the Puranic genre of Indian literature that has survived into modern times. The number of chapters, number of verses and the specific content vary across Agni Purana manuscripts.{{Sfn|Wilson|1864|p=LVIII-LX}}{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=134-137}} Dimmitt and van Buitenen state that each of the Puranas is encyclopedic in style, and it is difficult to ascertain when, where, why and by whom these were written:{{Sfn|Dimmitt|van Buitenen|2012|p=5}}

{{Blockquote|
As they exist today, the Puranas are a stratified literature. Each titled work consists of material that has grown by numerous accretions in successive historical eras. Thus, no Puran has a single date of composition. (...) it is as if they were libraries to which new volumes have been continuously added, not necessarily at the end of the shelf, but randomly.
|Cornelia Dimmitt and [[J. A. B. van Buitenen|J.A.B. van Buitenen]]|''Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas''{{Sfn|Dimmitt|van Buitenen|2012|p=5}}}}

==Structure==
The published manuscripts are divided into 382 or 383 chapters, and ranging between 12,000 and 15,000 verses.{{Sfn|Wilson|1864|p=LVIII-LX}}{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=134-137}} Many subjects it covers are in specific chapters, but states Rocher, these "succeed one another without the slightest connection or transition".{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|p=135}} In other cases, such as its discussion of iconography, the verses are found in many sections of the ''Agni Purana''.{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=134-135}}

==Editions and translations==
The first printed edition of the text was edited by [[Rajendralal Mitra]] in the 1870s (Calcutta : Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1870–1879, 3 volumes; Bibliotheca Indica, 65, 1–3). The entire text extends to slightly below one million [[Grapheme|characters]].

An English translation was published in two volumes by Manmatha Nath Dutt in 1903–04. There are several versions published by different companies.

==Contents==
The extant manuscripts are encyclopedic. The first chapter of the text declares its scope to be such.{{Sfn|Hazra|1940|p=136}} Some subjects covered by the text include:<ref name=shastri>Shastri, P. (1995) ''Introduction to the Puranas'', New Delhi: Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, pp.98–115</ref>

{| class="wikitable" align=center style = " background: transparent; "
|+ Encyclopedic subjects in ''Agni Purana''
|-style="text-align: center;"
| style="background: #ffad66;" | '''Subject'''
| style="background: #ffcc80;" | '''Chapters'''
| style="background: #ffcc80;" | '''Illustrative content'''
| style="background: #ffcc80;" | '''Reference'''
|-style="text-align: center;"
| Book summary
| 21-70
| [[Pancaratra]] texts, [[Mahabharata]], [[Ramayana]], [[Pingala|Pingala-Sutra]]s, [[Amarakosha]], etc.
| {{Sfn|Rocher|1986|p=135}}{{Sfn|Hazra|1940|p=136}}
|-style="text-align: center;"
| Regional geography
| 114-116
| [[Mithila (region)|Mithila]] (now [[Bihar]]), rivers, forests, towns, culture
| {{Sfn|Rocher|1986|p=135}}{{Sfn|Hazra|1940|p=136}}
|-style="text-align: center;"
| Medicine
| 279-286, 370
| [[Ayurveda]], herbs, nutrition
| {{Sfn|Rocher|1986|p=135}}<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Prasad PV, Subhaktha PK, Narayana A | title=Medical information in Agnipurana | journal=Bull Indian Inst Hist Med Hyderabad | year= 2007 | volume= 37 | issue= 1 | pages= 87–106 | pmid=19569455 }}</ref>
|-style="text-align: center;"
| Buddhist incantations
| 123-149
| Summary of the Buddhist text ''[[Yuddhajayarnava]]'', mantras of [[Trailokyavijaya]]
| {{Sfn|Rocher|1986|p=135}}{{Sfn|Hazra|1940|p=137}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Jan Gonda|title=Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Afd. Letterkunde|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wvcTAQAAMAAJ|volume=75-76|year=1969|publisher=North-Holland|pages=609 with note 3}}</ref>
|-style="text-align: center;"
| Politics
| 218-231
| Structure of a state, education and duties of a king and key ministers, organization of army, theory of just war, ambassadors to other kingdoms, system of administration, civil and criminal law, taxation, local administration and court system
| {{Sfn|Rocher|1986|p=135}}<ref name="Gonda 1956 pp. 36–71">{{cite journal | last=Gonda | first=J. | title=Ancient Indian Kingship From the Religious Point of View | journal=Numen | publisher=Brill Academic Publishers | volume=3 | issue=1 | year=1956 | pages=36–71 | jstor=3269464| doi=10.1163/156852756x00041 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Bambahadur Mishra |title=Polity in the Agni Purāṇa| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ah9YAAAAMAAJ| oclc= 637947585 |year=1965| publisher=Punthi Pustak}}</ref>
|-style="text-align: center;"
| Agriculture, planning
| 239, 247, 282, 292
| Fortification, trees and parks, water reservoirs
| {{Sfn|Rocher|1986|p=135}}<ref>{{cite book|author1=Sonia Tidemann|author2=Andrew Gosler|title=Ethno-ornithology: Birds, Indigenous Peoples, Culture and Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8u2nUWLYx18C&pg=PA141|year=2010|publisher=Earthscan|isbn=978-1-84977-475-8|pages=141–151}}</ref><ref>MN Dutt, [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b4023049 Agni Purana Vol 2], pages 853-858</ref>
|-style="text-align: center;"
| Martial arts, weapons
| 249-252
| 32 types of martial arts, making and maintaining weapons
| <ref>MN Dutt (1967), Agni Purana, Vol 1, {{oclc|421840}}, {{ISBN|978-8170309192}}, pages 102-109</ref>
|-style="text-align: center;"
| Cow
| 310
| Holiness of cow, breeding and taking care of cows
| <ref>MN Dutt, [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b4023049 Agni Purana Vol 2], pages 1075-1081 (Note: Dutt's manuscript has 365 chapters, and is numbered differently)</ref>
|-style="text-align: center;"
| [[Hindu temple]], monastery
| 25, 39-45, 55-67, 99-101
| Design, layout, construction, architecture
| <ref>{{cite book|author1=Stella Kramrisch|author2=Raymond Burnier|title=The Hindu Temple|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-aS52MgIkMC |year=1976|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass | isbn=978-81-208-0224-7|pages=300–305}}</ref>
|-style="text-align: center;"
| Metrics, poetics, art of writing
| 328-347
| Summary of different schools on poetics, music, art of poetry, ''Alamkara'', ''[[Chandas]]'', ''[[Rasa (aesthetics)|Rasa]]'', ''Riti'', language, rhetoric
| {{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=135-136}}<ref>{{cite book| author=Suresh Mohan Bhattacharyya| title=The Alaṃkāra-section of the Agni-purāṇa| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3IwWAAAAMAAJ| oclc= 313637004 | year=1976|publisher=Firma KLM| isbn=9780883869116}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Anders Pettersson|author2=Gunilla Lindberg-Wada |author3=Margareta Petersson |author4=Stefan Helgesson|title=Literary History: Towards a Global Perspective: Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WEcz6xGYW40C|year=2006|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-089411-0|pages=164–170}}</ref>
|-style="text-align: center;"
| [[Yoga]], [[moksha]]
| 372-381
| Eight limbs of yoga, ethics, meditation, [[samadhi]], soul, non-dualism ([[Advaita]]), summary of [[Bhagavad Gita]]
| {{Sfn|Rocher|1986|p=136}}<ref>MN Dutt (1967), Agni Purana, {{oclc|421840}}, {{ISBN|978-8170309192}}, pages 433-457</ref><ref>MN Dutt, [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b4023049 Agni Purana Vol 2], pages 1313-1338 (Note: Dutt's manuscript has 365 chapters, and is numbered differently)</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=David Gordon White |title=The "Yoga Sutra of Patanjali": A Biography| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ZGrAgAAQBAJ| year=2014| publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-5005-1| page=48}}</ref>
|}

==See also==
*''[[Bhagavata Purana]]''
*''[[Shiva Purana]]''
*''[[Markandeya Purana]]''
*[[Upanishads]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book|author=Gregory Bailey|editor=Arvind Sharma|title=The Study of Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=npCKSUUQYEIC|year=2003|publisher=University of South Carolina Press|isbn=978-1-57003-449-7}}
*{{citation|first = Rosen|last= Dalal|year= 2014|title= Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide| publisher= Penguin|isbn= 978-8184752779| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC }}
* {{cite book | last1 = Dimmitt | first1 = Cornelia | first2 = J. A. B. |last2 = van Buitenen | title = Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=re7CR2jKn3QC| publisher = Temple University Press (1st Edition: 1977) | year = 2012 | isbn =978-1-4399-0464-0 }}
*{{citation |author=K P Gietz|display-authors=etal|title=Epic and Puranic Bibliography (Up to 1985) Annoted and with Indexes: Part I: A - R, Part II: S - Z, Indexes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kgpLBpUCufwC&pg=PA870|year= 1992|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-03028-1}}
*{{cite book| first=Rajendra Chandra| last= Hazra|title=Studies in the Puranic Records on Hindu Rites and Customs| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Jar4V3piCeQC| year=1940| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass (1987 Reprint) |isbn=978-81-208-0422-7}}
*{{citation |first= Stella| last= Kramrisch| year= 1976| title= The Hindu Temple, Volume 1 & 2|isbn = 81-208-0223-3| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass}}
*{{citation |first=Ludo |last=Rocher| year= 1986| author-link= Ludo Rocher| title= The Puranas| publisher= Otto Harrassowitz Verlag| isbn= 978-3447025225}}
*{{cite book |last= Wilson |first=H. H. |author-link= Horace Hayman Wilson|title=The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition (Volume 1: Introduction, Book I) |year=1864 | url=https://archive.org/stream/vishnupurnsyst01wils#page/n3/mode/2up | publisher=Read Country Books (reprinted in 2006) |isbn=1-84664-664-2}}
*{{cite book |last=Winternitz |first=Maurice |author-link= Moriz Winternitz |title=History of Indian Literature Vol 1 (Original in German, translated into English by VS Sarma, 1981) |year=1922 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass (Reprint 2010) |location=New Delhi |isbn= 978-8120802643 }}

==External links==
* [https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-agni-purana The Agni Purana] Full English translation by N. Gangadharan, 1954 (includes glossary)
*[http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b4023049 Agni Purana (in English)], Volume 2, MN Dutt (Translator), Hathi Trust Archives
*[http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001002567?type%5B%5D=all&lookfor%5B%5D=agni%20puranam&ft= Agni Purana (Limited search outside universities, all volumes)], MN Dutt (Translator)
*[http://www.aa.tufs.ac.jp/~tjun/data/gicas/ind_scripture-e.html Agni Purana], Sanskrit Manuscript in various formats, Tokyo University
*{{cite book|editor=Rajendralal Mitra|editor-link=Rajendralal Mitra|title=Agni Purana (in Sanskrit)|url= https://archive.org/stream/bibliothecaindi00unkngoog#page/n6/mode/1up |year=1876 |publisher=Ganesh Press}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090724075838/http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ebene_1/fiindolo/gret_utf.htm#AgniP_BI GRETIL etext]

{{Puranas}}
{{Hindudharma}}

[[Category:Puranas]]
[[Category:Shaiva texts]]
[[Category:Sanskrit encyclopedias]]
[[Category:Sanskrit texts]]

Agni Purana - Revision history

UpdateBot at 07:26, 28 May 2022