Adhyaya 180

In the Vrata-khaṇḍa sequence, Lord Agni sets forth a focused Pañcamī-vrata meant to yield both immediate and ultimate fruits—ārōgya (health), svarga (heavenly merit), and mokṣa (liberation). The chapter begins with a text-critical note on variant readings in the mantra/recitation layer, highlighting the Purāṇa’s practical concern for correct utterance and ritual precision. Agni then defines the calendrical scope: the observance is undertaken in the śukla-pakṣa (bright fortnight) during the months Nabhas, Nabhasya, Āśvina, and Kārttika, grounding the vrata in time-dharma. A central rite is the remembrance/recitation of eminent nāga beings—Vāsuki, Takṣaka, Pūjya, Kāliya, Maṇibhadra, Airāvata, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Karkoṭaka, and Dhanañjaya—whose invocation forms a protective and auspicious frame. The promised results are fearlessness, longevity, knowledge, fame, and prosperity, expressing the Agni Purāṇa’s hallmark synthesis: ritual observance as spiritual discipline and as a technology of well-being within Agneya Vidyā.