Agnipurana 211

English (machine translation) 211

Language: English

211.8 — 3 parts
211.17 — 7 parts
211.28 — 3 parts
211.38 — 2 parts
211.48 — 4 parts
211.58 — 2 parts
211.69 — 2 parts
211.72 — 3 parts

211.1

Agni said: / The owner of ten cows should give one cow; the owner of a hundred cows should give ten; / the owner of a thousand cows should give a hundred; indeed, they all obtain equal fruit.

211.2

Where there are golden palaces, and where there is that stream of wealth, / where there are Gandharvas and Apsarases, thither go the givers of a thousand [cows].

211.3

By donating a hundred cows, one is freed from the ocean of hell. / And having given a heifer, one is honoured in the heavenly world.

211.4

From the gift of a cow, one obtains long life, health, good fortune, and heaven. / She who is the auspicious royal buffalo-cow of the world guardians headed by Indra—

211.5

by virtue of the gift of a buffalo-cow, may she grant all my desires; / she whose son is established in the service of Dharmarāja,

211.6

she who was the mother of Mahiṣāsura—may she grant boons to me. / From the gift of a buffalo-cow [comes] good fortune; from the gift of a bull, one goes to heaven.

211.7

The gift named ‘a row of yoked ploughs’ yields all fruits: / a row is declared to be ten wooden ploughs equipped with bulls.

211.8

Having given them fitted with gold bands, one is honoured in heaven.

211.8.p2

[Note] 1: The reading beginning with ‘gavāṃ śatapradānena’ up to ‘sarvakāmadā’ is missing in the jha manuscript.

211.8.p3

[Note] 2: ‘dharmarājasya māhātmye’ thus in ja. / [Page 265]

211.8_2

When ten tawny cows are given at Jyeṣṭha-puṣkara,

211.9

the fruit is declared imperishable; and at the release of a bull [the mantra is]: / ‘You are four-footed Dharma; these four are your beloveds.

211.10

Salutations to the lord of gods who is kind to brāhmaṇas, the nourisher of ancestors, living beings, and sages! / When you are released, may imperishable, disease-free worlds be mine!

211.11

May I have no debt to the gods, to living beings, to ancestors, or to human beings! / You are Dharma; whatever is the destination of one surrendered to you, let that be mine permanently!’

211.12

One should brand it with the discus and trident, and release it with this mantra. / The deceased for whom a bull is released on the eleventh day

211.13

is freed from the world of ghosts, as also at six months, the annual rite, and so on. / By a rod of ten cubits, thirty rods make a nivartana;

211.14

the same ten in extent make a gocarma; the giver of that destroys sin. / Whosoever offers a black antelope skin accompanied by a cow, land, and gold,

211.15

even if he has committed all evil deeds, goes to union with Brahman. / A vessel filled with sesame seeds, and likewise full of honey,

211.16

one should give, and one Māgadha prastha of black sesame seeds. / Having given a bed endowed with good qualities, one attains worldly enjoyment and liberation.

211.17

Having made a golden effigy [of oneself] and given it, heaven [is attained] for oneself. / Having built a spacious house and given it, one partakes of worldly enjoyment and liberation.

211.17.p2

[Note] 1: ‘tatphalaṃ cākṣayaṃ syādvai’ thus in ṭa.

211.17.p3

[Note] 2: ‘vṛṣabhasya vimokṣaṇe’ thus in kha; ‘vṛṣabhasya ca mokṣaṇāt’ thus in ja.

211.17.p4

[Note] 3: ‘daivo ’tha’ thus in kha and cha.

211.17.p5

[Note] 4: ‘tatprado ’ghanud’ thus in śa; ‘tatprado ’ghajid’ thus in gha and ṅa.

211.17.p6

[Note] 5: ‘yastu kṛṣṇājinaṃ daded’ thus in ṭa.

211.17.p7

[Note] 6: ‘dattvottamaguṇām’ thus in gha. / [Page 266]

211.18

Having given a house, a monastery, an assembly hall, or a shelter, one attains heaven; / having built and given a cowshed, free of sin, one attains heaven.

211.19

From the gift of a buffalo belonging to Yama, one becomes sinless and attains heaven. / Brahmā, Hara, and Hari [should be placed] with the gods, and in the middle the messenger of Yama

211.20

holding a noose; cutting off his head, one should give it, and one becomes a sharer of heaven. / Having received this gift named Trimukha, however, a twice-born incurs sin.

211.21

Having made a discus out of silver, holding it in water, he should have it given; / endowed with gold, [given] to a brāhmaṇa, this is the great Wheel of Time.

211.22

Whoever gives iron equal to one's own weight does not go to hell. / Whosoever offers an iron staff weighing fifty palas,

211.23

covered with a cloth, to a brāhmaṇa, the staff of Yama does not exist [for him]. / Roots, fruits, and the like, or wealth, combined or one by one,

211.24

one should give dedicated to Mṛtyuñjaya; one promotes life. / An effigy of a man should be made of black sesame seeds, with silver teeth and golden eyes,

211.25

holding a sword aloft in his hand, tall, with a garland of java flowers, / wearing red garments, garlanded, adorned with a necklace of conch shells,

211.26

his feet provided with a pair of sandals, with a black blanket at his side, / and holding a lump of meat in his left [hand]—the Person of Time (Kālapūruṣa).

211.27

Having worshipped him with perfumes and the like, he should present him to a brāhmaṇa; / he becomes free from death and disease, and becomes a king of kings and a ruler.

211.28

Having given a cow and a bull to a twice-born, one attains worldly enjoyment and liberation.

211.28.p2

[Note] 1: ‘pāpo’ thus in kha, cha, and ja.

211.28_2

And having given a golden horse mounted by Revanta, one does not suffer death.

211.29

Even by giving a single [vessel] filled with bells and other [adornments], one partakes of worldly enjoyment and liberation. / Whoever gives gold attains all desires.

211.30

When gold is being given, silver is prescribed as the sacrificial fee; / but for other gifts, gold is remembered as the sacrificial fee.

211.31

Gold, silver, copper, rice, grain, / the daily ancestral rite, and worship of the gods—all this is without a sacrificial fee.

211.32

Silver is the sacrificial fee to the ancestors, achieving virtue, desire, and wealth. / Gold, silver, copper, jewels, pearls, and wealth—

211.33

all this the very wise man gives when giving land. / The ancestors residing in the realm of ancestors, and the deities in the abode of the gods—

211.34

the tranquil-minded man who gives land satisfies them [all]. / Whether an isolated market town, a hamlet, or a village rich in grain,

211.35

or a hundred nivartanas, or half of that, or a house and the like, / or even giving land merely the size of a cow's hide, one partakes of everything.

211.36

Just as a drop of oil spreads upon the water, so does [the merit] accrued from land. / The fruit of all other gifts follows [one] through a single birth;

211.37

the fruit of gold, land, and cows follows [one] through seven births. / Having delivered thrice seven families, the giver of a maiden partakes of the world of Brahmā.

211.38

Having given an elephant along with a sacrificial fee, one becomes stainless and partakes of heaven. / Having given a horse, one obtains longevity, health, good fortune, and heaven.

211.39

Having given a female servant to an eminent twice-born, one reaches the realm of the apsarases. / Having given a copper cooking vessel made of five hundred palas,

211.40

or half of that, or half of that, or half of that, one attains worldly enjoyment and liberation. / Having given a cart yoked with bulls, one partakes of heaven with a chariot.

211.41

From the gift of clothing, one gains longevity, health, and imperishable heaven. / Giving grain, wheat, rice, barley, and the like, one partakes of heaven.

211.42

A seat, a metallic vessel, salt, fragrant unguents and sandalwood, / incense, a lamp, betel, iron, silver, and a jewel—

211.43

giving various divine substances, one partakes of worldly enjoyment and liberation. / Having given sesame seeds and a vessel of sesame, one attains heaven.

211.44

There is no gift higher than the gift of food, nor has there been, nor will there be. / Gifts of elephants, horses, and chariots, and female and male servants and houses—

211.45

all of them do not equal a sixteenth part of the gift of food. / Even having committed a very great sin, one who afterwards becomes a giver of food

211.46

is freed from all sins and attains imperishable worlds. / Giving drinking water and a water-dispensing booth, one attains worldly enjoyment and liberation.

211.47

Giving fire and firewood on roads and similar places, one obtains radiance and the like; / he is attended upon in heaven by the women of gods and gandharvas on a celestial vehicle.

211.48

Giving clarified butter, oil, and salt, one obtains everything.

211.48_2

Giving an umbrella, shoes, firewood, and the like, one dwells happily in heaven.

On prominent lunar days such as the first lunar day, during astrological yogas beginning with Viṣkumbha, / at the beginning of Caitra and the beginning of the year, under Aśvinī and the rest, having worshipped Hari, Hara,

211.50

Brahmā, the world guardians, and others, a gift yields great fruit. / Trees, groves, meals and the like, massaging on the road and the like,

211.51

and giving foot anointment and the like, one attains worldly enjoyment and liberation. / Three things yield equal fruit here: cows, the earth, and Sarasvatī.

211.52

Having given sacred Vedic learning, one becomes spotless and partakes of the world of Brahmā. / He who gives knowledge of Brahman is a giver of the earth with its seven continents.

211.53

A man who grants freedom from fear to all beings partakes of all things. / Having written down a Purāṇa, or the Mahābhārata, or the Rāmāyaṇa,

211.54

and given the book, one attains worldly enjoyment and liberation. / One who teaches the Veda and śāstras, dance and song, partakes of heaven.

211.55

One should give wealth to the teacher, and food and the like to the students; / what would be ungiven by him who perceives virtue, desire, and the rest?

211.56

Whatever fruit comes from a thousand properly offered Vājapeya sacrifices, / all that fruit one obtains from the gift of knowledge, without doubt.

211.57

In a temple of Śiva, in a house of Viṣṇu, and likewise in a shrine of Sūrya, / he who has a book recited becomes a giver of all gifts.

211.58

The four social classes and four stages of life separately in the three worlds, / and all the deities headed by Brahmā, are established in the gift of knowledge.

211.58.p1

[Note]

211.58.p2

[Variant readings].

211.59

Knowledge is a wish-fulfilling cow; knowledge is the unsurpassed eye. / Through the gift of an Upaveda, one rejoices with the gandharvas.

211.60

Through the gift of the limbs of the Veda, one attains the heavenly world. / Through the gift of a treatise on dharma, one rejoices with Dharma.

211.61

Through the gift of philosophical treatises, one undoubtedly attains liberation. / But one obtains [the merit of] the gift of knowledge through the donation of a manuscript.

211.62

Having given treatises and Purāṇas, one attains everything. / But one who instructs students obtains the fruit of a puṇḍarīka sacrifice.

211.63

Giving that by which one lives, there is no end to the fruit. / Whatever is best in the world and whatever is dear to oneself,

211.64

all that should be given to the ancestors by one desiring imperishable merit for them. / Having worshipped Viṣṇu, Rudra, the lotus-born [Brahmā], the Goddess, the Lord of Obstacles, and others,

211.65

he who offers the articles of worship partakes of everything. / Causing a temple and an image to be made, one obtains everything.

211.66

Performing sweeping and plastering [the ground], a man becomes spotless. / Making various maṇḍalas in front [of the deity], he becomes the ruler of a province.

211.67

Fragrance, flowers, incense, a lamp, food offerings, circumambulation, / a bell, a banner, a canopy, a dramatic spectacle, instrumental music, and song,

211.68

and having given garments and other things to the deity, one attains worldly enjoyment and liberation. / Musk, olibanum, sandalwood, and aloe-wood as well,

211.69

camphor, mustā grass, guggulu, and cannabis one should give.

211.69.p1

[Note]

211.69.p2

[Variant readings].

211.69_2

Installing [the deity] with a prastha of clarified butter on a solstice or equinox and the like, he partakes of everything.

211.70

A bath should be known as one hundred palas, and an anointing as twenty-five; / but with a thousand palas, a great bath is proclaimed.

211.71

Ten offences [are removed] by bathing with water, a hundred by bathing with milk; / a thousand are considered [removed] by milk-curd, and ten thousand by clarified butter.

211.72

Having given female and male slaves, ornaments, cows, land, horses, elephants, and the like / to the god, a person endowed with fortune, wealth, and long life goes to heaven.

211.72.p1

Thus ends the two hundred and eleventh chapter, entitled "Various Gifts", in the great Agni Purāṇa.

211.72.p3

Now begins the two hundred and twelfth chapter.

211.72.p4

Gifts of Mount Meru

Other recensions (1)

Agnipurāṇa (Nag Publishers edition, Delhi) — Sanskrit

Linked texts (1)

Agnipurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit

Agnipurana 211

Contents

Other recensions (1)

Linked texts (1)