Agnipurana 230

English (machine translation) 230

Language: English

230.6 — 1 part
230.17 — 2 parts
230.28 — 2 parts
230.36 — 5 parts

230.1

Puṣkara said: / When a man is staying still, departing, or making an inquiry, omens indicate / the good and evil fortune of a region and a city.

230.2

Every inflamed [omen] is proclaimed by interpreters of fate as yielding evil results; / a tranquil [omen] is declared by astrologers as yielding auspicious results.

230.3

The inflamed states of omens are stated to be of six kinds, / differentiated by time, direction, place, action, cry, and species.

230.4

Each preceding one among them is to be known as stronger: / a diurnal creature moving at night, or a nocturnal creature moving by day;

230.5

It should be known as inflamed under cruel asterisms, ascendants, planets, and the like. / That direction toward which the sun will proceed is to be known as 'smoky';

230.6

The direction in which it stands is 'blazing', and that which it has left is considered 'charcoal-like'. / These three are remembered as inflamed; the other five are tranquil.

230.7

An omen in an inflamed direction is proclaimed as directionally inflamed. / A wild creature in a village, village creatures in a forest, or an inauspicious tree,

230.8

And in an inauspicious place, O best of the twice-born, it should be known as spatially inflamed; / one performing an action unsuited to its own species is stated to be actionally inflamed;

230.9

One having a harsh and frightful sound is called vocally inflamed; / and one feeding exclusively on meat is to be known as specifically inflamed.

230.10

A tranquil [omen] is defined as opposite to an inflamed one by every category, with care; / by mixed categories it is stated to be mixed, and its good or bad fruit should be declared accordingly.

230.11

Cows, horses, camels, donkeys, dogs, mynahs, house lizards, / sparrows, vultures, turtles, and the like are declared village-dwellers.

230.12

Goats, sheep, parrots, noble elephants, boars, buffaloes, and crows / are designated as both village and forest dwellers; all others range in the forest.

230.13

The cat and the rooster are domestic, and they also range in the forest; / the distinction between the two is always made by their difference in appearance.

230.14

The gokarṇa antelope, peacock, ruddy shelduck, donkey, green pigeon, crow, / owl, coucal, hawk, jackal, wagtail, monkey,

230.15

Woodpecker, sparrow, Indian robin, blue jay, falcon, sparrow, / francolin, hoopoe, and the pigeon—these three—

230.16

Wagtail, water-hen, parrot, kingfisher, rooster, / skylark, and sāraṅga bird are to be known as diurnal creatures.

230.17

The bat, horned owl, śarabha, crane, hare, turtle, / fox, and spotted owlet are declared nocturnal creatures.

230.17.p2

[Variant reading: 'and all others move in the forest' in manuscript jha. Page 336]

230.18

Swans, deer, cats, mongooses, bears, serpents, / wolves, lions, tigers, camels, village boars, men,

230.19

porcupines, bulls, jackals, wolves, cuckoos, cranes, / horses, men in loincloths, and monitors are land-and-water animals.

230.20

When an army marches, all of them moving together in a flock in front / are declared to bring victory; [if] behind, they cause destruction.

230.21

And when having left the house it cries while standing in front, / it indicates insult from the king; on the left, [it indicates] a meal in a quarrel.

230.22

Upon setting out, the sight of it is praised, or on the left side of the body. / Moreover, a peacock with a broken call announces theft by thieves.

230.23

A deer in front of one who has set forth, O Rāma, takes away life. / Bears, mice, jackals, tigers, lions, cats, donkeys,

230.24

going against the wind, O Rāma, and a donkey with an unnatural cry [bring evil]. / A francolin partridge on the left is best, and likewise situated on the right;

230.25

behind, its fruit is censured; but a partridge is not commended. / Blackbucks, boars, and spotted deer, being on the left and then on the right,

230.26

always bring wealth; reversed, they are censured. / Bulls, horses, jackals, tigers, lions, cats, donkeys,

230.27

gone from the right to the left, are to be known as fulfilling desired aims. / A female jackal, a dark-faced chūcchū-bird, a screech-owl, a house lizard,

230.28

a sow, a cuckoo, and [creatures] with masculine names, [are auspicious] on the left.

230.28.p2

1. The reading beginning with "pratilomās tathā" and ending with "siṃhamārjāragardabhāḥ" is not found in the two manuscripts ja and bha. / [Page 337]

230.28_2

[Creatures] with feminine names, bhāsas, kārūṣas, monkeys, śrīkarṇas, [and birds that] make a screeching cry,

230.29

monkeys, śrīkarṇas, pipyīkās, ruru deer, and falcons [are auspicious] on the right. / Mentioning a chameleon, a snake, a hare, a boar, or an iguana is auspicious;

230.30

the sighting of them afterwards is not desired; [likewise] an monkey or a bear coming from the opposite direction. / An omen that is strong and effective for one who has departed every day,

230.31

its fruit should be pronounced by the wise on that very day. / Those seeking food, young ones, and those engaged in enmity,

230.32

and those separated by a boundary are to be known as fruitless, O twice-born. / By one, two, three, or four cries, a female jackal is auspicious;

230.33

by five and six cries, she is declared inauspicious; / by seven cries, she is likewise auspicious; beyond that, she becomes fruitless.

230.34

Causing goosebumps to men and causing fear to conveyances, / flaming with fire, facing the sun, she is to be known as increasing fear.

230.35

When a deer is first seen in an auspicious region, one should declare good fortune / for a man for a year; and [likewise] what is auspicious in an inauspicious [region].

230.36

When a man sees a deer of such a kind on the first day, / the fruit of the year for himself is to be known accordingly.

230.36.p1

Thus ends the two hundred and thirtieth chapter, named [Omens from] Birds, in the great Agni Purāṇa.

1. The passage beginning with "punnāmās tathā" and ending with "pippīkā" is largely identical across the nine manuscripts available to us. It cannot be emended even with the aid of any one of them; nor are the words found therein attested in dictionaries and the like. Therefore, we desist here. / [Page 338]

230.36.p5

Now the two hundred and thirty-first chapter.

230.36.p6

Omens from Birds

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Agnipurāṇa (Nag Publishers edition, Delhi) — Sanskrit

Linked texts (1)

Agnipurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit

Agnipurana 230

Contents

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