Agnipurana 4
English (machine translation) 4
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Contents
4.1
Agni said:
I shall narrate the Boar Incarnation, which destroys sin.
Hiraṇyākṣa was lord of the asuras; having conquered the gods, he dwelt in heaven.
4.2
When the gods approached and praised [him], Viṣṇu became the Boar, the personification of sacrifice;
having slain that Dānava, a thorn together with the Daityas,
4.3
and having protected dharma, the gods, and others, Hari then vanished.
Likewise, Hiraṇyākṣa's brother Hiraṇyakaśipu,
4.4
having conquered the sacrificial shares of the gods, usurped the authority of all the gods.
Assuming the form of Nṛsiṃha, he slew him along with the gods [assisting].
4.5
Nārasiṃha, praised by the gods, reinstated the gods in their respective positions.
Formerly, in the war between the gods and asuras, the gods were conquered by Bali and others.
4.6
Deposed from heaven, they went to Hari for refuge.
Giving fearlessness to the gods, and praised by Aditi and Kaśyapa,
4.7
becoming Vāmana through Aditi, he went to the sacrifice
of the illustrious patron Bali; at the royal gate he recited the Veda.
4.8
Hearing him reciting the gods [in the Veda], boon-granting Bali said to Vāmana,
though restrained by Śukra: "Speak what you desire!
4.9
That I shall grant you." Vāmana spoke to Bali:
4.9.p1
[Notes]
4.9.p2
"1 he became the lord of gods, thus the reading in the manuscript marked gha"
4.9.p3
"2 having conquered the gods, thus the reading in the manuscript marked kha"
4.9.p4
"3 together with the thorn, thus the reading in the two manuscripts marked kha and gha"
4.9.p5
"4 Hiraṇyakaśipu then, thus the reading in the manuscript marked gha"
4.9.p6
"5 to Hari, thus the reading in the three manuscripts marked kha, ga, and gha / p. 8"
4.9_2
"Grant three paces [of land] for the sake of the teacher." [Bali] said to him: "I will grant [it]."
4.10
When the water fell upon his hand, the dwarf ceased to be a dwarf: / he [encompassed] the earth, the atmosphere, and heaven with three strides.
4.11
He made Bali [dwell in] Sutala, and Hari gave that [triple world] to Śakra; / Śakra praised Hari together with the gods, and became the joyful lord of the world.
4.12
I shall relate the incarnation of Paraśurāma, listen, O twice-born: / seeing the Kṣatriyas haughty, in order to remove the earth's burden,
4.13
Hari descended for the sake of peace, the protector of gods, brāhmaṇas, and others, / born from Jamadagni through Reṇukā, a Bhārgava master of weapons.
4.14
By the grace of Dattātreya, King Kārttavīrya had become / thousand-armed, ruler of the entire earth; he went hunting [in the forest].
4.15
Exhausted, the king was invited in the forest by the sage Jamadagni, / and he along with his army was fed by the power of the wish-granting cow.
4.16
He demanded the wish-granting cow, and when he did not give it, / he carried it off; then he was struck down by Rāma, who severed his head
4.17
with an axe in battle, and the cow returned to its hermitage. / But by the sons of Kārttavīrya, Jamadagni was struck down
4.18
out of enmity when Rāma had gone to the forest. Then Rāma returned, / and seeing his father slain, inflamed with fury at his father's death,
4.19
the all-powerful one cleared the earth of Kṣatriyas thrice seven times. / Having made five fire-pits at Kurukṣetra and propitiated his ancestors,
4.19.p1
[Notes]
4.19.p2
1. 'me gurvartham' is the reading in the manuscript marked kha.
4.19.p3
2. 'bhrāntaḥ' is the reading in the manuscript marked kha.
4.19.p4
3. 'aprārthayaddhomadhenum' is the reading in the two manuscripts marked kha and ga.
4.19.p5
4. 'sadhenuścāśramaṃ yayau' is the reading in the three manuscripts marked kha, gha, and ṅa.
4.20
he bestowed the earth upon Kaśyapa and took his stand on Mount Mahendra. / A person who listens to the incarnations of the Tortoise, the Boar, / Nṛsiṃha, the Dwarf, and Rāma, goes to heaven.
4.20.p1
Thus ends the fourth chapter, titled 'The Incarnations of the Boar, Nṛsiṃha, and Others', in the venerable Mahāpurāṇa composed by Agni.
4.20.p3
Now begins the fifth chapter.
4.20.p4
The description of the incarnation of glorious Rāma.
Other recensions (1)
- Agnipurāṇa (Nag Publishers edition, Delhi) — Sanskrit
Linked texts (1)
- Agnipurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit