Agni Purana
Also known as: Agni-Purana, Agni-Purāṇa, Agni Purana (The Purana of Agni)
An encyclopedic Sanskrit Purana framed as Agni’s instruction, covering cosmology, avatars, rites, law, temple arts, geography, and abridged epics. It blends mythic narrative with practical dharma and ritual guidance.
Description
The Agni Purana is a wide-ranging Smriti text that mixes mythic narration with instruction across theology, ritual, ethics, polity, and arts. Cast as teachings of the fire-god Agni to sages, it digests creation cycles, manvantaras, avatars of Vishnu, and synoptic tellings of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Interleaved sections prescribe domestic and temple rites, vratas, expiations, iconography and temple proportions, grammar notes, metrics, omens, statecraft, and geography of sacred places. Its composite nature and variant recensions reflect centuries of accretion, making it both a mythic compendium and a handbook for religious and cultural practice.
Historiography
Surviving manuscripts attest to significant regional variation, with chapter counts around the 380s and fluctuating contents. The text likely reached its broad form between the 7th and 11th centuries CE, with later strata and interpolations. Early printed editions and the English rendering by M. N. Dutt made it accessible to modern scholars. Comparative studies situate its summaries of epics and avatars within a broader Purāṇic encyclopedism rather than a single-author composition.
Date Notes
Puranic compendia accrued over centuries; Agni Purana shows strata with later additions and regional recensions.
Archetypes
Major Characters
- Agni
- Vasistha
- Vishnu
- Shiva
- Brahma
Myths
- Cosmology and Genealogies of the Gods
- Avatars of Vishnu
- Rituals of Kingship and Statecraft
- Sacred Geography and Pilgrimage
- Teachings of Agni on Dharma and Worship
Facts
- Framed as teachings of Agni to sages, with Suta narration layers typical of Puranas.
- Combines mythic narratives with extensive ritual, iconographic, and didactic materials.
- Chapter counts vary by recension; many editions list approximately 383 chapters.
- Summarizes epics (Ramayana, Mahabharata) rather than duplicating full narratives.
- Includes technical prescriptions on temple images, proportions, and consecration rites.
- Contains sections on statecraft and kingly duties (rajadharma) within a dharma framework.
- Manuscript traditions show regional variations and interpolations.
- Widely used as a reference compendium alongside Vishnu, Padma, and Skanda Puranas.
- English translation by M. N. Dutt (early 20th century) circulated via early printings.
- The text reflects multi-sectarian materials, though Vaishnava and Shaiva elements are prominent.