Agnipurana 204
English (machine translation) 204
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Contents
204.1
Agni said: / I shall declare to you the votive observance of fasting for a month, which is the most supreme of all. / Having performed a Vaiṣṇava rite and having obtained the permission of one's guru,
204.2
and having assessed one's own strength through rites like the kṛcchra penance, one should perform the month-long fast— / whether a forest hermit, an ascetic, or a widowed woman, O sage.
204.3
Fasting on the eleventh lunar day of the bright fortnight of the month of Āśvina, / one should undertake this votive observance for thirty days,
204.4
[resolving:] 'From today onwards, O Viṣṇu, until your awakening, / I shall worship you while fasting, for thirty days.
204.5
During the months of Āśvina and Kārttika, until your awakening, O Viṣṇu, / if I die in the interim, let there be no breach of my votive observance.'
204.6
Having bathed three times a day, the observer of the vow should worship Viṣṇu at the three junctures of the day with perfumes and flowers, / reciting the hymns of Viṣṇu and the like, and meditating [upon him].
204.7
He should avoid idle talk; he should abandon desire for wealth; / he should not touch anyone not engaged in a votive observance, nor disturb those occupied with inappropriate actions.
204.7.p1
[Note]
204.7.p2
1 [Variant reading:] 'vrataṃ māsopavāsākhyam' in manuscripts gha and ja.
204.7.p3
2 [Variant reading:] 'annākāṅkṣāṃ vivarjayet' in manuscripts gha and ṅa.
204.8
He should dwell in a temple of the deity for thirty days. / On the twelfth lunar day, having worshipped [Viṣṇu] and fed the twice-born,
204.9
completing [the vow] and giving a sacrificial fee, the observer of the vow should break the fast. / He attains worldly enjoyment and liberation, and [dwells in heaven] for thirteen cosmic cycles.
204.10
He should perform a Vaiṣṇava sacrifice and honor thirteen brāhmaṇas; / as many pairs of garments, vessels, and seats,
204.11
umbrellas together with sacred threads, and likewise pairs of sandals, / meditation bands, and sacred threads he should give to a brāhmaṇa, being approved by them.
204.12
Having worshipped a golden Viṣṇu upon a bed for another brāhmaṇa, / he should likewise worship an icon of himself with garments and the like.
204.13
[Saying:] ‘Liberated from all sin, the brāhmaṇa, by the grace of Viṣṇu, / [thinks,] “I shall go to the world of Viṣṇu; I myself become Viṣṇu.”
204.14
Go, go, O you who have the intellect of a deity, to the sorrowless abode of Viṣṇu!’ / By a celestial chariot he would remain there stainless, bearing the very form of Viṣṇu.
204.15
Having addressed the twice-born, he should then offer that bed to his preceptor. / Having delivered a hundred families, the observer of the votive observance leads them to the world of Viṣṇu.
204.16
In whichever region one who fasts for a month dwells, that region becomes stainless; / how much more the entire family wherein lives a performer of the month-long fast!
204.17
Seeing one observing a votive observance fainted, one should give him milk and clarified butter to drink. / These do not break the votive observance, being sacrificial food approved by the brāhmaṇas.
204.17.p1
[Note]
204.17.p2
1 tataḥ pānayutāni ceti kha..
204.17.p3
2 vai nata iti gha..
204.17.p4
3 dvijān natvātheti ṅa..
:p 247
204.18
Milk, medicines beneficial according to the preceptor, water, roots, and fruits— / Viṣṇu is the great medicine, the agent; one should rescue the votive observance from this [danger].
204.18.p1
Thus in the great Purāṇa of Agni, the two hundred and fourth chapter, entitled ‘The Votive Observance of Fasting for a Month.’
204.18.p3
Now, the two hundred and fifth chapter:
204.18.p4
The Votive Observance of the Bhīṣmapañcaka.
Other recensions (1)
- Agnipurāṇa (Nag Publishers edition, Delhi) — Sanskrit
Linked texts (1)
- Agnipurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit