Adhyaya 206
Agastyārghyadāna-kathana (On the Giving of the Agastya Honor-Offering)
Lord Agni teaches a vrata-style worship of Agastya, explicitly identified with Viṣṇu, thus joining sage-veneration to Vaiṣṇava liberation—attainment of Hari. The observance is time-bound and orderly: for three days, before sunrise, one fasts, worships, and offers arghya to Agastya. At pradoṣa an image made of kāśa-flowers is installed in a water-pot (ghaṭa/kumbha), followed by night vigil (prajāgara). In the morning, arghya is offered near a water-reservoir with hymnic praise of Agastya’s mythic deeds (drying the ocean; destroying Ātāpi–Vātāpi) and petitions for boons and an auspicious afterlife. The chapter lists ritual items and the donation scheme: sandalwood, garlands, incense, cloth, rice/grains, fruits, gold, and a pot-gift to a brāhmaṇa, along with feeding and dakṣiṇā (cow, garments, gold). It notes mantra-recension variants and an accessibility rule: women and Śūdras perform the rite without Vedic mantras. A long observance—seven years of arghya—is said to grant complete prosperity: sons to the childless and a royal husband to a maiden.
Shlokas
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Frequently Asked Questions
Fasting and worship precede the arghya; at pradoṣa a kāśa-flower image is placed in a ghaṭa/kumbha, followed by night vigil; in the morning the arghya is offered near water, then tyāga (grain, fruit, libation) and charitable gifts/feeding of brāhmaṇas conclude the rite.
Sandalwood, garlands, incense, cloth, rice/grains, fruits, gold (and in an expanded description: five gems, gold and silver, seven grains, curd, sandalwood), plus a pot-gift to a brāhmaṇa and dakṣiṇā including cow, garments, and gold.
The rite explicitly aims at attaining Hari through Agastya-worship (mukti-oriented devotion) while also promising dharma-anchored prosperity—health, fortune, desired boons, lineage, and marital success—thus integrating dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa.
It states that for women and Śūdras the rite is ‘non-Vedic,’ i.e., performed without Vedic mantras, indicating an inclusive procedural adaptation while preserving the devotional and charitable structure.
By giving the arghya for seven years, ‘all obtain everything’: a childless woman gains sons and good fortune, and a maiden gains a husband of royal birth; the arghya is also described in some readings as imperishable and mind-fulfilling.