Agnipurana 249
English (machine translation) 249
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Contents
249.1
Agni said:
Having drawn it fully, O twice-born, and having worshipped those armed with maces with meat, / having cleansed the bow well, he should set it upon the sacrificial ground.
249.2
Then, having taken the arrow, armored, well composed, / having quickly approached, he should fasten his firm right waist-band.
249.3
Even with target fixed, that arrow being properly set there, / he should then extract the arrow from the quiver with his right hand.
249.4
Holding the arrow grasped in the middle along with it, / he should lift the bow from that side with his left hand.
249.5
Becoming free of despondency, he should seat the nock on the bowstring, / having pressed firmly with the lion's-ear grip, evenly on both sides of the nock.
249.5.p1
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249.6
He should hold the arrowhead resting near the left ear, belonging to the left [side]; / and there he should hold the arrows with the middle finger and the left fingers.
249.7
Fixing the mind upon the target, knowing the rules, / holding [the string] with the fist and bringing the arrow to the right side of the body, he should release it.
249.8
He should place the shaft in line with the target at the level of the forehead; / having drawn back, he should strike the ring target of sixteen finger-breadths there.
249.9
Having released the arrow, one wishing to learn the firebrand [speed] should then repeatedly / check [the bowstring] with that [hand], with the middle finger.
249.10
He should draw from the quiver at eye-level, keeping [the body] four-square and to the right; / standing firmly from the beginning, he should practice hitting a target that is four-square.
249.11
Immediately after that, he should swiftly practice / sharp, turning-away, moving, / low, and high shooting.
249.12
Then, among these positions of the target, drawing the bow from the chest of courage, / he should threaten [the foe] with hundreds of varied arm-guard movements, even those hard to endure.
249.13
When it comes to that target, O brahmin, two targets are known as 'firm', / two targets are 'difficult', and likewise two are 'variously difficult'.
249.14
The low and the sharp are declared to be the two 'firm' targets; / the low and that which moves upward are stated to be 'difficult'.
249.15
And in the middle of the head's path are the two named 'variously difficult'; / having thus arranged the array of targets, with the right and the other [hand],
249.16
a heroic man who has mastered targets should first mount [his chariot or horse]; / this very procedure is taught, as seen by practitioners.
249.16.p1
[Footnotes]
249.16.p2
1. 'asminn iti' in manuscripts kha, cha, and ja.
249.16.p3
2. 'namrañ ceti' in manuscripts gha and ña.
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249.17
Greater rotation than that from the target is declared for him; / he should firmly fix the target there, feather upon feather.
249.18
Whatever is wandering, moving, or stationary, / he should strike on all sides, pierce, cut through, or wound.
249.19
Knowing the rules of the practice of actions, knowing this, he should perform the procedure; / practicing discipline with mind, eye, and gaze, he can conquer death.
249.19.p1
Thus ends the two hundred and forty-ninth chapter, entitled 'The Science of Archery', in the Great Agni Purāṇa.
249.19.p3
Now, the two hundred and fiftieth chapter:
249.19.p4
Account of the Science of Archery.
Other recensions (1)
- Agnipurāṇa (Nag Publishers edition, Delhi) — Sanskrit
Linked texts (1)
- Agnipurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit