Agnipurana 382.71

he has no fear of portents, and attains worldly enjoyment and liberation. / May you constantly remember the Agni Purāṇa, the divine form! / Honoured by them, Sūta departed, and Śaunaka and the others went to Hari.

Thus ends the three hundred and eighty-second chapter in the great Agni Purāṇa, entitled “The Greatness of the Agni Purāṇa.”

The Agni Purāṇa is complete. / [p. 361]

Now begins the appendix to the Agni Purāṇa.

Among the ten exemplar manuscripts of the Agni Purāṇa marked with ‘ka’ and subsequent letters, in nine exemplar manuscripts the text concludes with the chapter on the greatness of the Purāṇa following the Yamagītā chapter. In the manuscript marked ‘ga’, however, following the Yamagītā chapter, there are thirty-three additional chapters beginning with the section on creation. Because these said chapters are absent in nine exemplar manuscripts, their authenticity is doubtful. Even granting authenticity, since only one manuscript, that marked ‘ga’, is available—which is defective with missing letters in various places—I was unable to print these additional chapters here. Nevertheless, for the purpose of making this known, a few additional chapters found only in the manuscript marked ‘ga’ have been emended to the best of my ability and printed in the form of an appendix. Because the manuscript marked ‘ga’ has missing letters and is corrupt, faulty readings exist in many places of this appendix.

First Chapter.

Sūta said:

Having become Brahmā, Narasiṃha sets forth in the creation of the world.

I shall tell that to you; listen to me, O Bharadvāja.

The Lord named Nārāyaṇa, Brahmā the grandfather of the worlds,

having arisen, is carried […].

[...]

1 This reading cannot be emended due to the loss of letters in the manuscript. [page 362]

By his own measure, his lifespan is traditionally held to be one hundred years.

And Viṣṇu is Time, by whom his lifespan is calculated,

as well as that of other beings, moving and unmoving,

and of all [elements] beginning with earth, soil, and oceans, O best of beings.

Eighteen nimeṣas are declared to be one kāṣṭhā;

thirty kāṣṭhās are a kalā; thirty kalās should be known as a muhūrta.

A human day and night is traditionally taught to consist of that number of muhūrtas.

That many days and nights make a month consisting of two fortnights.

Six of those months make an ayana; there are two ayanas: southern and northern.

The southern ayana is night for the gods, and the northern is day.

Two ayanas are declared to be a year for mortals;

a month of human beings is taught to be a day and night for the ancestors.

A human year is traditionally held to be a day and night for the Vasus and other gods.

Hear from me the division of those [ages] designated as Kṛta, Tretā, and so on,

by thousands of divine years: four, [three, two, and one], into twelve.

Four, three, two, and one, respectively, in the Kṛta and following [yugas],

thousands of divine years in the yugas, the knowers of the past say.

Measured by that many hundreds, the dawn preceding each is named there.

And the twilight following it is equal to that; it indeed comes after the yuga.

The period of time that exists between dawn and twilight, O twice-born,

is to be known as a yuga, designated as Kṛta, Tretā, and so on.

Kṛta, Tretā, Dvāpara, and Kali: this is the four-yuga cycle.

A thousand of them is called a day of Brahmā, O twice-born.

[page 363]

In a day of Brahmā, O sage, there are fourteen Manus.

Their auspicious measurement made by time is [as follows]:

the Seven Sages, the gods, Śakra, the Manu, and his sons, the kings,

are created at one time and destroyed as before.

Seventy-one cycles of four yugas are enumerated

as a manvantara, the time of a Manu, and of Śakra and the others as well, O twice-born.

Eight hundred and fifty-two thousand by divine count, [O Sūta,]

and fifty-one other [years], and seven others, O sage,

and twenty thousand—this time is traditionally stated with an excess.

Thus should a day of Brahmā be known; it is proclaimed as this.

During this [day], having mentally created the gods and the ancestors,

gandharvas, dānavas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, and guhyakas,

sages, vidyādharas, human beings, and beasts,

birds, plants, ants, and serpents,

and having created the four social classes, assigning them to their respective duties,

again at the end of the day, having withdrawn the three worlds, that Lord,

the imperishable one, sleeps on the bed of Ananta for a night of equal length.

At the end of that came the great cosmic cycle renowned as the Pādma;

in it took place the Fish incarnation for the churning of the great ocean.

Likewise, the Varāhakalpa is conceived as the third;

in that, Viṣṇu himself assumed the form of a boar.

[...]

1 This reading is corrupt. [page 364]

Having created the universe, space, the earth, and the water,

and having created all creatures, the Lord likewise,

having withdrawn everything at the dissolution called occasional, Hari, the primal god, rests.

Thus ends the first chapter, named the Section on Creation, in the great Agni Purāṇa.

Now begins the second chapter.

Sūta said:

Here, while the god was asleep, a lotus arose from his navel.

In that lotus, O fortunate one, he who is versed in the Vedas and Vedāṅgas,

Brahmā was born; he was addressed by him: "Create creatures, O high-minded one!"

Having spoken thus, the lord Nārāyaṇa vanished.

Thinking of the god Viṣṇu, who had gone after saying, "So be it,"

Brahmā remained; he did not comprehend at all any cause for the universe.

Then great anger arose in that great-souled Brahmā.

From that, Rudra was born upon his lap, originating from his wrath.

Crying, he was addressed by that Brahmā of unmanifest birth:

When told, "Give me a name," he gave him [the name] Rudra.

He too was told by him: "Create this world again!"

Endowed with ascetic austerity, he repeatedly created in the exhausted waters.

[Page 365]

When he was immersed in the waters, however, another Prajāpati

Brahmā, the lord of beings, created standing to his right, and another

Dakṣa, who stood to his left, and then he brought forth his wife.

With her he engendered the lord Manu Svāyambhuva.

From him the creation of living beings was effected thus by Brahmā.

In this way the creation has been related by me to you, O best of sages,

of the Lord of the universe as he created. What further do you wish to hear?

Bharadvāja said:

"This has been narrated in brief by you to me, O Lomaharṣaṇa.

Speak again in detail of the primary creation, O high-minded one!"

Sūta said:

"At the end of this cosmic egg, the lord awakened from night-sleep;

then Brahmā, filled with the quality of sattva, looked upon the empty world.

Nārāyaṇa is to be worshipped by the highest, the first-born even of the ancients,

the blessed one whose nature is Brahman, beginningless, the source of all.

[…] this verse regarding Nārāyaṇa,

the god whose form is Brahman, the imperishable source of the world:

'The waters are called nārāḥ; the waters are indeed the offspring of Nara.

That was his primary resting place (ayana); therefore he is called Nārāyaṇa.'

As he was contemplating creation, as previously at the beginnings of the kalpas,

there arose for him, devoid of growth, [a creation] full of delusion:

darkness (tamas), delusion (moha), great delusion (mahāmoha), and that named blinding darkness (tāmisra and andhatāmisra)—

five kinds of ignorance arose of that great-souled one before all else.

[Note]

1. Due to missing characters in the exemplar, this reading cannot be emended.

2. This reading is corrupt.
[Page 366]

The creation established in five ways, as he meditated, lacking conscious awareness,

is to be known as the primary creation (mukhya-sarga) by the discerning who understand creation.

Again, as he was meditating upon another, superior creation,

the transverse stream (tiryak-śrotas) arose; […] it is recorded as the transverse stream.

They are well known as animals and the like; they follow the wrong path.

Thinking that creation of the transverse stream to be incapable of fulfilling the purpose, the four-faced one [meditated again].

The third [creation], the upward stream (ūrdhva-śrotas), moved above the earthly realm.

From that arose the gods who move upward, born along with the creation.

When the Prajāpati was not satisfied with that creation, then he paused,

considering those born from the primary creation to be ineffective.

Then as he was reflecting, O brāhmaṇa, that [creation] is remembered as the downward stream (arvāk-śrotas).

Human beings, born thus as the downward stream, are considered capable of achieving the purpose.

They possess illumination, but are born with darkness and have an excess of rajas;

therefore they endure sorrow and are continually active.

Thus these creations have been recounted to you, O best of sages.

The first is the creation of Mahat; the second is that of the subtle elements (tanmātras).

The third is the transformational (vaikārika) creation, known as that of the sense organs.

The fourth is the primary creation (mukhya-sarga); […] the immovables are recorded.

The fifth is that called the transverse stream (tiryak-śrotas), the animal species.

Then the sixth is that of the upward streams; the seventh is the creation of the gods.

Then the best, of the downward stream, is the seventh [or eighth], the human creation.

The eighth is the supportive creation (anugraha-sarga); it is both sāttvika and tāmasa."

The ninth is the creation of Rudra. These are the nine creations of Prajāpati.

[Page 367]

These five are secondary creations; the primary creations are traditionally remembered, O dear one.

Both the primary and the secondary creations are the root causes of the world.

They are the creation arising from Brahmā as he creates, which have been related by me.

Then, entering with his potency, the supreme modification, he created everything—

Nārāyaṇa, possessing one form that dissolves everything, the sole lord of the universe, through the forms of Brahmā and the others.

Thus ends the second chapter, named the Topic of Creation, in the great Agni Purāṇa.

Now begins the third chapter.

The Topic of Creation

Bharadvāja said:

The ninefold creation arose from Brahmā, who is born of the Unmanifest.

How did it multiply, O Sūta? Tell me this now.

Sūta said:

First created by Brahmā, following Rudra, were those rich in ascetic austerity:

Sanaka and the others, who were created, as well as Marīci and the others:

Marīci, Atri, and likewise Aṅgiras, Pulaha, Kratu,

and Pulastya of great splendour, Pracetas, and Bhṛgu,

and Nārada as the tenth, and Vasiṣṭha of great brilliance.

Sanaka and the others were established in the duty called cessation;

[Page 368]

Marīci and the others in the duty called engagement; the sage Nārada solely in liberation.

He who was born from the limb of the Prajāpati, named Dakṣa—

through the lineage of his daughters' sons, this entire universe of moving and unmoving beings,

the gods, the Dānavas, the Gandharvas, serpents, and birds,

all supremely righteous, were born of Dakṣa’s daughters.

The four classes of beings, both unmoving and moving,

multiplied, and so did those originating from the creation of the Manus.

The great sages, Marīci and the others, were the makers of the creation of the Manus,

as were the highly fortunate Vasiṣṭha and the others, born from the mind of Brahmā.

In these creations, that Supreme Self creates beings, beginning with the ether, through Time;

and then he, the Infinite One, in the form of kings and in the form of sages, creates [...].

Thus ends the third chapter, named the Topic of Creation, in the great Agni Purāṇa.

Now begins the fourth chapter.

The Topic of Creation

Bharadvāja said:

Tell me in detail, O highly intelligent one, of the creation of Rudra;

and how again Marīci and the others brought forth the secondary creation.

[Page 369]

How did Vasiṣṭha become the son of Mitra and Varuṇa,

having previously been born from the mind of Brahmā, O one of great destiny?

Sūta said:

I shall declare the creation of Rudra and his production, O good one;

and hear in detail as I declare the secondary creation of the sages.

At the beginning of the kalpa, as he was meditating upon a son equal to himself,

there appeared from the body of the Lord a youth of blue and red colour,

having the form of the Lord who is half-female, fierce, with an immense body,

illuminating all the cardinal and intermediate directions with his splendour.

Seeing him blazing with splendour, Prajāpati replied:

"Divide yourself today at my command, O highly intelligent one!"

Being thus addressed by Brahmā, the glorious Rudra there

then separated his female nature and his male nature.

He divided the male nature into eleven parts.

I will tell you their names; hear them from me, O best of the twice-born:

Ajaikapād, Ahirbudhnya, Kapālin, and Rudra,

Hara, Bahurūpa, Tryambaka, and Aparājita,

Vṛṣākapi, Śambhu, Kapardin, and likewise Raivata—

these are declared to be the eleven Rudras, lords of the three worlds.

And in the same way Rudra divided femininity tenfold and singly;

she remained standing as his wife in manifold forms.

When formerly he performed terrifying ascetic austerity lying on his back in the water,

then that lord, the mighty Rudra, created there,

by the power of ascetic austerity, O best of Brahmins, various beings:

[Page 370]

piśācas, foul creatures, and those with faces like lions, camels, and makaras,

others headed by vetālas, and thousands of others.

Created by him, they [dwell] on Kailāsa […]

And half of twenty crores of vināyakas and rudras;

and he created Skanda to destroy the one named Nāraka.

In this manner that lord Rudra has been proclaimed to you by me.

I shall tell of the secondary creation of Marīci and the others; listen to me.

The creatures, from the gods down to immovable things, were created by Svayambhū;

when all those creatures of the wise [Brahmā] did not multiply,