The Skanda Purana

by G. V. Tagare | 1950 | 2,545,880 words

This page describes The Greatness of Agni Tirtha which is chapter 33 of the English translation of the Skanda Purana, the largest of the eighteen Mahapuranas, preserving the ancient Indian society and Hindu traditions in an encyclopedic format, detailling on topics such as dharma (virtous lifestyle), cosmogony (creation of the universe), mythology (itihasa), genealogy (vamsha) etc. This is the thirty-third chapter of the Reva-khanda of the Avantya-khanda of the Skanda Purana.

Chapter 33 - The Greatness of Agni Tīrtha

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:

1-7. Thereafter one should go to the excellent Agnitīrtha, O great king. It is there that Agni went on being enchanted by Kāma.

Yudhiṣṭhira said:

How was the Lord (Agni), the sustainer of the universe, defiled by Kāma? How can there be perpetual residence (of Agni) in single places? This is unparalleled and mysterious, the most excellent in all the worlds. Do tell me, O highly esteemed one, I have very great curiosity.

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:

Excellent! Excellent! O highly intelligent one! An excellent question has been put by you, O sinless one. I shall mention (the answer to it) as was heard from Maheśvara.

There was a great king named Duryodhana[1] in Kṛtayuga. He was fully equipped with elephants, horses and chariots and he duly protected the earth. On seeing the king richly endowed with handsome features and youthful figure and enjoying rich and divine pleasures, Narmadā sought him.[2] The highly delighted king of Māhiṣmatī abandoned other young maidens and loved that girl.

8-14. O excellent king, he (that king) sported with her and at the proper time Narmadā gave birth to a lotus-eyed girl. Richly endowed with beauty in every limb and joint, she became well-known in all the worlds. The father and the mother had affectionate attachment to her. After a long time the excellent girl reached the prime of her youth, O king, but even when wooed she never wished to offer herself.

On another day, Vahni (Fire-god) assumed the form of a Brāhmaṇa of great austerities, slowly approached the king and requested him secretly: “O excellent scion of the family of Raghu, I am a Brāhmaṇa deficient in progeny, poor and helpless. I woo her (your daughter) to become my wife. Your daughter named Sudarśanā is unrivalled all over the earth in her physical beauty. She lives (grows) in your palace; O highly esteemed one, do give her to me. I am alone. I have become disgusted with long celibacy. I am now afflicted with love. O dear one, it behoves you to do me this favour, since I earnestly beg for it.”

Rājā (The King) said:

15-23. O excellent Brāhmaṇa, I will never give my splendid daughter to one who belongs to another caste and is also devoid of wealth; you may go.

On being told this, Vahni (Fire-god) became excessively afflicted. Without saying anything further to the king, he vanished there itself.

After the Brāhmaṇa had gone away, the king took counsel with his ministers and priests. Highly delighted, he occupied his seat in front of the sacrificial pit. Even as he was devoutly performing the sacrifice in the company of the Brāhmaṇas, O descendant of Bharata, Vaḥni vanished from the place even as all of them were watching. The Brāhmaṇas became disappointed. They went to the palace of the king with disappointment in their minds and spoke to the king:

The Brāhmaṇas said:

O great king Duryodhana, may this mysterious event be heard. This miraculous thing has not been heard or seen before, O excellent king. O king, all of us began duly our sacrificial rites in the fire. For some reason the fire is neither seen nor does it burn.

On hearing this terribly unpleasant thing issuing from the mouths of the Brāhmaṇas, the king fell down from his seat on the ground like a tree, the root of which has been cut. He soon recovered and became composed in a short while, but looked all round as though he had become mad and spoke these words:

24-34. “O excellent Brāhmaṇas, what is this mysterious incident? Consider this from the standpoint of the scriptures and do tell me the reason hereof. What is the reason for the disappearance of fire? Is it any of my sins or yours, whereby the Fire-god has vanished from the hall of sacred fire. Was there any loophole in the course of the recitation of the Mantras? Was any rite performed without the requisite Dakṣiṇā? Was there any omission of the due rites? Why is Vahni not to be seen? There is no enemy like Yajña. If there is any fault in the cooked food served, it will burn the nation. If it is without the utterance of the requisite Mantras it will burn the Ṛtviks. If it is deficient in Dakṣiṇās it will destroy the Dātṛ (donor).”

The Brāhmaṇas said:

We are not guilty of the omission of the Mantras. Nor, O king, are we negligent in our Vratas. You are not short of the Dravyas (money, sacrificial requisites). Please reflect whether there is any other fault.

The King said:

Yet, all of you join together and think about the means of remedy whereby there will be all-round welfare always in this world as well as hereafter.

On being told thus, all those Brāhmaṇas came to a final decision. They, observing fast, stationed themselves at the place where the fire had vanished. Then in their dream the excessively refulgent Fire-god said to the Brāhmaṇas: “May ye all hear the cause of my disappearance. The king was requested by me to give his daughter to me, but he does not wish to give. Therefore, I have vanished from the sacrificial hall, O excellent Brāhmaṇas. If only the king is prepared to offer his highly honoured daughter to me, then will I be present burning brightly in his abode. Not otherwise.”

On listening to these words issued from the mouth of the Fire-god, those Brāhmaṇas, struck with wonder causing their eyes to glisten, spoke these words to the king:

35-46. “After knowing your view all of us went to the sacrificial chamber, observed fast and stayed there for the night. Then we saw the Fire-god. We were told by him: ‘If the king is prepared to give his daughter to me, I shall continue to stay in his palace and blaze; not otherwise, O Brāhmaṇas.’ After coming to know of this, it behoves you to give your daughter, O great king.”

The King said:

Your words and those of that god should be kept in mind by me. I wish to stipulate an excellent condition in regard to the offer of my daughter. May the Fire-god be present always in my abode. I shall give my daughter of charming side-glances; not otherwise.

On hearing this, the Brāhmaṇas hurriedly approached the Fire-god and got the marriage performed. Hutāśana (Fire-god) became delighted on getting Sudarśanā. O Yuḍhiṣṭhira, thereafter he remained ever present in Māhiṣmatī and continued to blaze. Ever since then the people call that Tīrtha ‘Agnitīrtha’. Those who became purified by means of holy ablutions and Dāna at the juncture of the two halves of the month and propitiate the Pitṛs and Devas became possessed of the benefits of a horse-sacrifice.

If gold is offered as gift at that Tīrtha, O king, one acquires the merit of gifting plots of land. There is no doubt about this.

If one observes the vow of non-intake of food in that Tīrtha, one becomes able to sport about in Agniloka after death and is honoured by Suras.

Thus the origin of Agnitīrtha has been recounted to you by me. It is conducive to the destruction of all sins. Merely on being listened to, it is meritorious, O most excellent one among men. It is conducive to wealth and destructive of sins for ever. So said Śaṅkara.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The story is borrowed from Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Ch. 3. This king Duryodhana is different from the Mahābhārata hero, Duryodhana, son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra. This Purāṇa utilises the episode for the glorification of Agni Tīrtha on Narmadā.

[2]:

Narmadā seems to be enamoured of even human beings. Before meeting her consort, the Sea, she married Agni (domestic fire) and got a son. Now she marries King Duryodhana and gave birth to a daughter who was given to Agni in marriage.

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