Adhyaya 181

Lord Agni continues the Vrata-khaṇḍa’s calendrical instruction by moving from Pañcamī-vratas to Ṣaṣṭhī-vratas, presenting the sixth lunar day as a ritual nexus that can yield both bhukti (worldly enjoyment) and mukti (liberation). He opens by promising to explain Ṣaṣṭhī observances—beginning in Kārttika in one recension, while manuscript variants preserve alternate openings and readings. The core discipline includes regulated intake (fruit-only or a single simple pure meal, depending on the recension) and ritual offerings such as arghya. Agni then names Skanda-Ṣaṣṭhī, said to be akṣaya when performed on the sixth day in Bhādrapada, and announces the next vow, Kṛṣṇa-Ṣaṣṭhī, to be observed in Mārgaśīrṣa. The chapter culminates in heightened austerity: a year-long abstention from food is declared capable of granting the dual puruṣārtha fruit of enjoyment and liberation, linking ritual discipline to transcendence in the Agni Purāṇa.